226 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



On tlie Iiio Grande it extends into Texas, and thus qualifies itself for a 

 ])lace witliin our fauna. A few specimens were procured at Kagle Tass and 

 elsewhere l>y the Mexican rxnindary Survey party. It is more ahundant 

 on the western hanks of tlie Uio (Jrande, especially at Matamoras. Amonj^ 

 the MS. notes left hy Dr. Kennedy is a jiart of the memomnda of the 

 late Dr. lierlandier of tliat place. Under the name of Pun cU'ijaiis the lat- 

 ter ii'fers to what is evidently this species. He descrihes it as found in 

 all j>arts of tlie Republic of Mexico, where it is known as Uraca, Pnjaro 

 nfffi'o, and, in Acapulco, Papatc. It is found, he adds, abundantly through- 

 out the State of Tamaulipas. It lives upcm grain, especially corn, devouring 

 tlu^ ]»lanted seeds and destroying the crops. It builds its nest in April, 

 lavinLT its eufijs in the same month, and the voung birds are hatched out by 

 the beginning of ^lav. The nests are large, the edges high, and the cavitv 

 correspondingly deej). They are constructed of dry plants and small bits 

 of cloth, which the birds find about the settlements, and the bottom of the 

 nest is plastered with clay, which gives it great firmness. This is covered 

 with grasses and pieces of dr}' weeds. The eggs are described as large, of a 

 pale leaden-gray or a rusty color, over which are black marks, strii)es, lines, 

 and s])ots without order or regularity. They are generally four in number. 

 The nests are built on the tops of the highest trees, usually the willows 

 or mesipiites. 



Mr. G. C. Taylor, in his notes on the birds of Honduras, states that he 

 found this lilacklurd common, and always to be met with about the villages. 

 It api)eared to be j)olygamous, the males being generally attended by 

 .several females. A fine male bird, with his accompanying females, fre- 

 ([uented the court-yard of the Kailroad House at Comayagua, where Mr. 

 Taylor was staying. They genemlly sat on the roof of the house, or among 

 the u])per branches of some orange-trees that grew in the yard. They had 

 L very peculiar cry, not unlike the noise produced by the sharpening of a 

 saw, but more jirolonged. 



Mr. Salvin found the bird very abundant in Central America. In one of 

 his })apers relative to the birds of that region, he states that this species, in 

 Guatemala, Jjlays the part of the European House S])arrow. It seeks the 

 abode of man, as does that familiar bird, and is generally found frequenting 

 larger towns as well as villages. Stables are its favorite places of re.sort, 

 where it scratches for its food among the ordure of the horses. It will 

 even perch on the backs of these animals and rid them of their ticks, 

 occasionally picking up stray grains of corn from their mangers. At Duenas 

 he found it breeding in large societies, usually selecting the willows that 

 grow near the lake and the reeds on the banks for its nest. The breeding 

 season extends over some length of time. In May, young birds and fresh 

 eggs may be found in nests in the same trees. On the coast, young birds, 

 nearly capable of flying, were seen in the early part of March. Mr. Salvin 

 adds that the nests are usually made of grass, and placed among ujuight 



