246 ALLEN S naturalist's LIBRARY 



dense chaparral, they are abundant in those places, and their 

 hoarse cries are the first thing heard by the traveller on awaking 

 in the morning. During the day, unless rainy or cloudy, the 

 birds are rarely seen or heard, but shortly before sunrise and 

 sunset they mount the topmost branch of a dead tree, and 

 make the woods ring with their discordant notes. Contrary 

 to almost every description of their cry which I have seen, it 

 consists of three syllables, though occasionally a fourth is 

 added. When one bird begins to cry, the nearest bird joins 

 in at the second note, and in this way the fourth syllable is 

 made ; but they keep such good time that it is often very diffi- 

 cult to satisfy oneself that this is the fact. I cannot say cer- 

 tainly whether the female utters this cry as well as the male, 

 but there is a well-marked anatomical distinction in the sexes 

 in regard to the development of the trachea. In the male 

 this passes down the outside of the pectoral muscles, beneath 

 the skin, to within about one inch of the end of the sternum ; 

 it then doubles on itself and passes up, still on the right side 

 of the keel, to descend within the thorax in the usual manner. 

 This duplicature is wanting in the female. These birds are 

 much hunted for the Brownsville market, though their flesh is 

 not particularly good, and the body very small for the apparent 

 size of the bird. Easily domesticated, they become trouble- 

 somely familiar, and decided nuisances when kept about the 

 house." 



Mr. J. A. Singley says : — " All the nests I found were in 

 mesquite stubs, where the limbs had been cut off to make 

 brush-fences. These limbs are never cut close to the tree, 

 and being close together form a cavity ; leaves and twigs will 

 fall in this and accumulate, and the bird occupies it as a nest- 

 ing site. I did not find a nest that I could say was built by 

 the bird. When the nest is approached the bird quietly flies 

 off, rarely remaining in sight, and soon calls up its mate." 



Mr. George B. Sennett makes the following statement : — 

 " The chicks are hatched well-coated with down, and they 



