Brown's Heconnoissance in SoutJnvcstern Texas. 39 



rock, bush or weed aftbrds a hiding place. The male's song, which I first 

 heard on Feb. 25, is a pretty warble, not strongly accentuated, and quite 

 unsparrowdike, — equalling neither in sweetness nor in quality of music, 

 the beautiful chant of P. cBstivalis. Before becoming thoroughly fainiliar 

 with it, I more than once attributed it to some unknown Warbler. The call- 

 note is extremely fine and sharp, suggesting the eep of Ampelis cedrorum. 



54. Melospizafasciata (Gw.) ^ro/i?. Song Sparrow. — Rare through- 

 out my stay. Specimens are not typical of this form, but are not referable 

 to any of the western varieties.* 



55. Melospiza lincolni {And.) Bd. Lincoln's Finch. — Arrived 

 March 4; common thereafter. 



56. Passerella iliaca {Mcrrem) Szv. Fox Sparrow. — Two or three 

 individuals met with. This species was detected in the valley of the 

 Brazos by Mr. L. Kumlien,t but is not included in the papers of other 

 Texas collectors. 



57. Pipilo maculatus megalonyx {Bd.) Cones. Spurred Towhee. 

 — To this form I refer a large series of Pipilos, which is by far the most 

 remarkable of the many curious series from this locality. The relation 

 of some specimens to restricted maculatus and the variety arcticus is in- 

 dicated in the extract from Mr. Ridgway's letter, under M. fasciata. Other 

 examples are links in the chain of evidence that is gradually accumulating 

 against the specific distinctness of Pipilo erythrophthalmus. Indeed, I 

 am not sure that they may not be considered as establishing the intergra- 

 dation between that form and the niactilatus group. The extreme ap- 

 proach to the eastern bird is seen in a single specimen, in which the white 

 spotting, partially concealed, appears upon the outer scapulars alone, and 

 there only in very slight measure. 



58. Cardinalis virgiiiianus (Briss.) Bp. Cardinal. — Abundant 

 resident. In a series of fifty specimens, two or three are typical, the 

 remainder exhibiting to a greater or less degree the characters of both 

 virginia7ius as restricted and var. igneus. In one specimen the black band 

 across the culmen is hardly perceptible, but in none does the red of the 

 forehead reach completelj' to the bill. 



59. Calamospizabicolor (Tt?zc'«5.) Bp. Lark Bunting. — One spec- 

 imen, in a scattering grove of post oaks, March 24. 



* Mr. Ridg\vay acquiesces in the identification made of my inconstant examples of 

 this species and Pipilo ?naculatus, in a letter from which I here make an extract : "The 

 Pipilos appear to be neither true arcticus nor true megalonyx, and are almost as near 

 (one of them at least) to maculatus of Mexico. They are, however, less like arcticus 

 than either You will notice that one of the specimens has a very considerable ad- 

 mixture of g7-ayish on the upper parts. Now, were this color more olivaceous, the 

 specimen in question would be exactly like maculatus. The Song Sparrows are about 

 equally like M. fasciata and M. fallax, but in colors appear to me to be nearer the 

 former, as fallax has the markings less sharply contrasted. The specimens are, how- 

 ever, more like fallax in the grayness of the plumage. Upon the whole, I would say 

 that they are nearer fasciata than fallax." 



t See Field and Forest, Feb. 1877, p. 131. 



