34 Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds of Southern Texas. 



minded me of the European Ring-Plover {jE. hiaticula), running 

 very swiftly, with the head drawn in close to the body. As the 

 winter advanced they became more plentiful, but disappeared in 

 the early spring, none showing themselves later than the com- 

 mencement of April. They feed on cattle-ticks and beetles of 

 all sorts; and seem to prefer the barren sand-plains to the 

 grassy parts in the neighbourhood of water. 

 Beak black ; legs greenish-grey ; iris black. 



^GiALiTES wiLSONius (Ord). Wilson's Plover. 



Common about the coast, so far as my own experience goes, 

 during the summer season. On Galveston Island I noticed 

 many during my stay there in May and June, and shot two or 

 three, but could not succeed in finding any eggs. 



iEoiALiTES SEMiPALMATUS, Bonaparte. Semipalmated Plover. 



Pretty common about the pond-holes near San Antonio in the 

 autumn and spring, but I noticed none near Matamoras when 

 there. 



Squatarola helvetica (Linnseus). Grey Plover. 



On the 6th of September, 1863, at the salt-ponds in the sandy 

 desert between the Sal Colorado and King's Rancho, I shot one 

 specimen (which was well marked with black), and killed another 

 on Galveston Island on the 26th of May, 1864 ; but I skinned 

 neither of them. 



H.EMATOPUS PALLiATUs, Tcmminck. American Oyster- 

 catcher. 



When out boating in Galveston Bay in June I saw a couple 

 of Oystercatchers, and pointed them out to the boatman, who 

 called them "Pillwillets," but said that he knew the difference 

 between them and the real Willet {Si/mphemia semipalmata). 

 He also said that the Oystercatcher is not a common bird, but 

 that one or two pair bred sometimes on the outer islands in 

 West Bay. 



Strepsilas interpres (Linnseus). Turnstone. 



I found several birds of this species quite close to the town of 

 Galveston on the 26th of May, 1864; and on the beach to the 

 westward there was a good number of them. On my second 



