212 LACEY^Birds of KemriUe, Texas. [\^t\ 



I do not know whether the Crows had anything to do with the fact thai 

 the Ravens left us, but the year that the Crows appeared for the first time 

 on Turtle Creek was the last year that the Ravens bred there. Ken- 

 County marked their extreme eastern breeding range in Texas. 



109. Corvus brachyrhynchos. Crow. — Crows were not uncommon 

 along the Pedernales liner in Gillespie County in the early eighties, but 

 1 never saw them along the Guadaloupe until February, 1897, when a pair 

 or two took up their abode near Kerrville; since then they have increased 

 aiul several pairs breed in the neighborhood. They first nested on Turtle 

 Creek in 1898. The last pair of White-necked Ravens nested there in 1897. 



110. Molothrus ater. Cowbird. — The form which occurs here 

 commonly in migration and rarely in winter is certainly the eastern bird. 

 Whether our breeding bird is this form or the Dwarf Cowbird (M. 

 a. obscurus) has not yet been determined. 



111. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Yellow-headed Black- 

 bird. — Common migrant in April; occasional in the autumn. 



112. Agelaius phoeniceus. Red-winced Blackbird. — Occasionally 

 in large flocks in February, March and April; sometimes I do not see it all 

 the winter. I know of no nesting place nearer than San Antonio. 



113. Sturnella magna. Meadowlark. — Common winter resident. 



114. Sturnella neglecta. Western Meadowlark. — Common in 

 winter, but I have not known them to nest here. 



115. Icterus spurius. Orchard Oriole. — Quite common breeder; 

 earliest record, April 13; average, April 17. One of the most regular of 

 our birds in its times of arrival. 



116. Icterus galbula. Baltimore Oriole. — A fine male and three 

 females or young birds came to the ranch on September 9, 1908. I have- 

 only seen it here on one other occasion. 



117. Icterus bullocki. Bullock's Oriole. — Not uncommon among 

 the mesquites in the northwest corner of the county, and breeds there; 

 have seen it only twice in the neighborhood of Kerrville. 



118. Euphagus cyanocephalus. Brewer's Blackbird. — Common 

 in winter. 



119. Hesperiphona vespertina subsp.? Evening Grosbeak. — 

 Seen once, January 31, 1905. This is the only record of the species for 



Texas and unfortunately there can be no certainty as to the subspecies. 

 But since the known range of the western form, montana, is much nearer 

 than the district where the eastern form usually winters, the probabilities 

 are strongly in favor of the western bird. 



120. Astragalinus tristis. Goldfinch. — Common in winter; leaves 

 us just as the males begin to put on their summer plumage, usually about 

 the first week in March. 



121. Astragalinus psaltria. Arkansas Goldfinch. — Nests quite 

 commonly in the pecan and walnut trees at the ranch, often quite close 

 to the house: there are usually four eggs in the nests somewhere about the 

 first week in June. Earliest spring record, March 29; next earliest, 



