36 Brown's Reconnoissance in Sonthxvestertt Texas. 



like a flock. The Tittarks, on the contrary, as I have also found them at 

 the North, were birds of erratic and more rapid flight, frequently ascending 

 to a considerable height and always preserving the semblance of a flock, 

 however straggling their order. 



18. Mniotilta varia {Linn.) Vie.ill. Black-and-white Creeper. — 

 Rather common after March 13. 



19. Helminthophaga ruficapilla (JV/ls.) Bd. Nashville War- 

 bler. — Two specimens, — March 30 and April i. 



20. Helminthophaga celata {Say) Bd. Orange-crowned War- 

 bler. — Arrived the first week in March and thereafter was the most 

 abundant of the Warblers. One of my specimens is a partial albino, 

 the first, I believe, that has been detected in this peculiar phase of plu- 

 mage. 



21. Parula americana {Linn.) Bp. Blue Yellow-back. — Rare 

 migrant. Arrived March 20 in full song. 



22. Dendroeca coronata {Linn.) Gray. YelloVv-rump. — An 

 abundant winter visitor, seen throughout my stay. 



23. Dendroeca blackburnae {Gtn.) Bd. Blackburnian War- 

 bler. — A single male taken March 31. 



24. Dendroeca dominica albilora, Bd. White-browed Yellow- 

 throat. — Uncommon migrant, first seen on March 19. The song of 

 this variety is very different from that of its eastern analogue, and is a 

 close reproduction of the Field Sparrow's familiar chant, without his decres- 

 cendo termination. 



25. Dendroeca chrysoparia, Scl. and Salv. Golden-cheeked 

 Warbler. — Previous to the capture of my Boerne specimens, there were 

 only about seven * skins of this elegant Warbler in existence. It was a rare 

 bird at Boerne, and my own series was not brought up to a total of seven 

 without special exertion. The first individual made his appearance on 

 March 12. Within forty-eight hours from that time, under the influence 

 of a biting norther, the mercury sank to 29° and hovered about that 

 figure for several days. So that in his semi-tropical habitat this little bird 

 is sometimes called upon to endure pretty severe weather. The remain- 

 ing examples were taken at intervals up to March 24, after which I saw 

 none. I found them usually in cedar brakes ; never more than a few rods 

 distant from them. They were sometimes very shy, at other times easily 

 approached, but almost always pursued their various avocations rather si- 

 lently. I did not hear the song at all, until by this I was attracted to the 

 last specimen that I procured. The notes were an exact counterpart of the 

 song of Dendrceca discolor, as I heard it in Alabama, and, indeed, for 

 the utterances of that bird I mistook them. 



By the few examples of this species hitherto existing in cabinets, the 

 plumage of the adult male has been represented with much green on the 



*Four specimens were known before Mr. Werner explored Comal Co., in 1878. In 

 his article on Werner's Birds (this Bull., Vol. IV, p. 77), Mr. Brewster does not state 

 just how many were taken. 



