50 Griscom, Winter Birds of San Antonio, Texas. [j" n 



Tn 'The Auk,' for 1892, Attwater gave a list of the birds from the 

 vicinity of San Antonio with mostly very brief and general annota- 

 tions. A list of the breeding birds for all of Bexar Co. is given by- 

 Messrs. Quillin and Holleman in 'The Condor' for 1918. Lacey 

 published a very complete list for the vicinity of Kerrville, about 

 fifty miles northwest of San Antonio (Auk, 1911, p. 200), and Austin 

 Paul Smith wrote 'Additions to the Avifauna of Kerr Co., Texas' in 

 'The Auk,' 1916. A few other short notes have been published, 

 but those are not given as they do not bear on the birds in this 

 article. 1 



The chief excuse for publishing these notes is the discrepancy in 

 the accounts of Attwater and Lacey as to the status of various spe- 

 cies, where the difference in the kind of country and the fifty miles 

 ought not to count. As this is usually due to the lack of adequate 

 observation by a sufficient number of people at nearby contigu- 

 ous stations, my notes are given as supplementary information. 

 It is also, perhaps, worth while to record the effect upon the bird- 

 life of the extreme severity of the winter of 1917-18, which a good 

 many people both in and out of the military service, will remember 

 for years to come. The number of military camps too must have 

 interfered with bird-life, and undoubtedly aeroplanes were respon- 

 sible for the scarcity of many species such as vultures and hawks. 

 In the list which follows all actual or apparent discrepancies are 

 pointed out, as well as new records. Even the commonest birds 

 have been included, so as to give the future observer a definite idea 

 of what he may expect to find. 



1. Podilymbus podiceps. Pied-billed Grebe. — Two seen at 

 Medina Dam, December 30, 1917. Not mentioned by Attwater as a 

 winter resident. Called an occasional winter visitor on the Guadeloupe 

 River by Lacey. 



2. Mergus senator. Red-breasted Merganser. — A flock of 

 five noted at the Medina Dam, December 30. Another species not men- 

 tioned by Attwater, but called an occasional winter visitant by Lacey. 



3. Anas platyrhynchos. Mallard. — Rather uncommon on th e 



1 The first paper dealing with the birds of this region is by H. E. Dresser and appeared in 

 The Ibis ' for August and October, 1S65 and January, 1S66. It is especially interesting 

 historically as Mr. Dresser stopped with Dr. A. L. Heermann who was living at San An- 

 tonio at the time and who contributed a number of notes to the paper. [Ed.] 



