80 Brewster on Certain Rare Birch in Texas. 



on the nest. Five of these (the sixth is so badly broken as to be unavail- 

 able for examination) measure, respectively, 1.00 x .71 ; .94 x .69 ; .99 x .69 ; 

 1.00x.71; 1.00 x. 75. They are rounded-oval in shape; in color, clear 

 ivory-white, with a rather high polish. The shell is so extremely thin that 

 nearly every specimen was cracked in transportation, although they were 

 carefully packed. They contained embryos of large size. The nesting-cavity 

 was in a sandy bank near the water's edge. The eggs were laid on the 

 bare sand, no fish-bones or other extraneous material being near. The 

 entrance was not quite If inches in diameter, and the hole extended in- 

 ward from the face of the bank about 3i feet. Another set of the eggs 

 of this species, obtained in the same locality, May 25, 1878, is in Mr. Riek- 

 secker's cabinet. The four eggs constituting this set differ from those 

 taken by Mr. Werner in being creamy-white in color, with scarcely any 

 perceptible polish. This, however, may be due to the fact that they were 

 freshly laid. They measure, respectively, .93 x .72 ; .97x.75; .95x.71; 

 .94 x .75, and are nearly elliptical in shape. 



5. Buteo zonocercus. Band-tailkd Hawk. — This fine Buteo, 

 which has previously been known only as a rare straggler into Arizona 

 and Southern California from across the Mexican border, is now entitled 

 to a place in the fauna of Texas upon the strength of a fine adult male 

 preserved in Mr. Werner's collection. Only two pairs were observed by 

 Mr. Werner during his* rambles, and he regards the species as of rare oc- 

 currence in Comal County. On May 17, 1878, he had, however, the rare 

 good fortune to secure a nest and set of eggs, which, if I am not mistaken, are 

 tlie first authentic specimens known. The nest — a large, bulky structure, 

 composed of coarse sticks, with a rather smooth lining of Spanish moss — 

 was built in a cypress-tree on the banks of the Guadaloupe River. It was 

 placed on a large and nearly horizontal branch, about fifteen feet out from 

 the main stem, and at least forty feet above the ground. It measures as 

 follows : External diameter, 20 inches ; external depth, 6 inches ; internal 

 diameter, 7 inches ; internal depth, 4 inches. The two eggs which it con- 

 tained were slightly incubated. One is still preserved with the nest ; the 

 other is in Mr. Riekseckcr's collection. The latter measures 2.09 x 1.55. 

 It is marked with blotches of reddish-brown upon a dull white ground. 

 These blotches occur most thickly about the larger end, where they tend 

 to form a nearly confluent ring. In Mr. Werner's specimen, which is simi- 

 lar in color, the markings are most numerous around the smaller extremity. 

 Its dimensions are 2.06x1.53. Although the parent birds belonging to 

 this nest successfully eluded all attempts at capture, their identity can 

 scarcely be doubted. As Mr. Werner was climbing to their eyry, they 

 swept down about his head, repeatedly passing within a few feet of him. 

 As but a few days previously he had shot the specimen above referred to, 

 it is not likely that he could have mistaken a species so distinctly marked. 

 The two ashy tail-bands of the male, set off by its otherwise nearly uniform 

 black plumage, are characters that even at a loivj; distance would serve to 

 distinguish it from any other Hawk. 



