Vol. XVI1 CARROLL, Birds of Refugio County, Texas. aa 
1900 
NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF REFUGIO COUNTY, 
TEXAS. 
BY JAMES J. CARROLL. 
Tue following notes are based on observations made by the 
writer in Refugio County, southern Texas, during the winter and 
spring of each year since 1896. The list, while not complete, 
gives a very fair idea of the avifauna of the county. Refugio 
“ County is joined on the west by Bee County where observations 
have been made and results published by Messrs. Beckham and 
Sennett, and only a short distance north of Nueces County, which 
territory has been studied by such eminent ornithologists as Sen- 
nett, Hancock, Beckham and Chapman. The results of their 
researches have been published in the proceedings of various sci- 
entific societies. 
The San Antonio and Aransas Rivers form respectively its 
northern and southern boundaries. ‘The interior of the county is 
well watered by the Mission River and Blanco, Medio, Sauz, 
Melon, Copano and Chocolate Creeks and other small streams. 
There are also a number of. large fresh water lakes which afford 
suitable winter habitation for many aquatic species. The eastern 
border is indented by the Heines Bay, and the southern by the 
Mission and Copano Bays. ‘The country is flat, has little eleva- 
tion and is for the most part a prairie, covered more or less with 
chaparral. There are some groves, however, of red oak (Quercus 
rubra texana), post oak (Q. sée/lata), and live oak (Q. virens), 
which cover considerable areas. The rivers are heavily fringed 
with the pecan (Carya oliveformis), cottonwood (Populus monilt- 
Jera), etc. A broad belt of territory bordering the coast is well 
timbered with mesquite (Prosopis juliflora). The ‘mottes’ men- 
tioned so frequently are composed of the hackberry (Ce/#is occiden- 
talis) and anaqua (L4retia elliptica), and are dispersed over the 
prairies at varying intervals. Other trees occurring commonly 
are huisache (Acacia farnesiana), granjeno (Ce/tis pallida), etc. 
These brief preliminary and explanatory remarks the writer has 
