50 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12^No. 4 



l)rou<^lit iiic by my <>iiicle, vvlnle at (Orpus 

 ("liristi. lie tlioujilit. it was a rare bird, as it 

 was tlic first ho hud ever seen. lie also th()ii<i,ht 

 it very handsome and wanted to know wliat 

 species it was. 



TIarjxirhi/nchiis ntrviroKtris, ( 'urve-bill 'I'lnasli- 

 er. The oidy plaee where I saw this bii-d and 

 its nest was near the town of Laredo, on (lie 

 Kio Grande. We were on our way ))aci'C to 

 town, after a good daj''s woi-k, when, on tlie 

 edge of the river bank, in an old live oak tree, 

 we noticed a hole such as is made by a wood- 

 ]>eeker, out of which was thrust the liead of a 

 bird. On our approach it flew out, and one of 

 our party shot it, when we found that it was a 

 Curve-bill. The nest contained four eggs, of a 

 light blue, thickly covered with reddisli-brown 

 specks, and it was composed of dry grass, lined 

 with feathers. This cannot be regaided as oth- 

 er than a most unusual place for the nesting of 

 this species. It was the only sjx'cimen we saw. 



I'olioptihi ncrnlca, Hlue-gray Gnatcatcher. 

 Only a few of these birds were noticed in 

 Comal ("ounty; where we found several nests, 

 generally situated in live oak trees, about ten 

 or fifteen feet from the ground. The nests 

 were of the usual beautifully constructed pat- 

 tern, and the eggs four in number. 



L(>ph()))haneti hicoJor, Tufted Titmouse. \'ery 

 abundant, principally in ("omal County. They 

 nested in holes in ti-ees, and the eggs were fi'om 

 four to five. One nest that I found was in such 

 a small hole that I had fo i)rocure a hatchet to 

 enlarge it, and wliile away for that puri)ose the 

 bird broke the eggs. 1 have been told by resi- 

 dents of Comal Count}', that this is a conunon 

 habit of this species, and if they have not the 

 means of enlarging the hole with them when 

 they find the nest, the men closi' uj) the en- 

 trance with grass until tliey return, as other- 

 wise the birds will break the eggs. 



Loph(t}>]i(tn<'s atrocristdtus^ Black-crested Tit- 

 mouse. We saw nund)ers of this species, but 

 did not find them nesting. They are shy and 

 diflicult to approach. 



Farus carolineiisis, Carolina Chickadee. Two 

 birds of this species were observed in Comal 

 County. 



Campijlorliijncli iis hrunuririijiillHs. Cactus 

 Wren. Very few of these birds were notii-ed. 

 We secured three spet-imens at Laredo, where 

 we found their nests in the prickly pear. They 

 were from twelve to fifteen inches long, and 

 about six inches in diameter, with a very small 

 opening at the end, which did not seem large 

 enough to admit the bird. They were made of 

 dried grass, lined with feathers. Only one of 



the nests contained eggs, which wero six in 

 number. 



('(ithcrpcs nicxkadiis ciinapersus^ White-vhroat- 

 ed Wren. Eather scarce, but I saw four birds 

 in (.'omal County, where I found a nest on the 

 loeky side of a dried river bed. This was on 

 April 10th. The nest was composed of porcu- 

 ])ine hail', and lined with feathers of the Cardi- 

 nal and Texas (iuail. It was very shallow and 

 flat, and contained five eggs. They measure 

 .7^ X .55 ; .74 x ..55 ; .70 x .55 ; .73 x .55 and .72 x 



'rhri/dtliorKs IiKlon'n'iiiuis, Carolina Wren. 

 Vei'y al)undant ; breeding in the neighborhood 

 of houses in the I'cntral part of the state, and 

 on the coast. The largest set found contained 

 six eggs. This nest was under the roots of a 

 live oak tree, blown over on its side by the 

 wind. It was eomj)osed of chicken feathers, 

 and lined with down. 



Thrij(iiiM)u'>f hciricki IciiaKjdstcr, Texan He- 

 wick's Wren. The connnonest wren in the 

 state. We found them breeding in holes in 

 trees, as well as in boxes put up for the pur- 

 {)ose, and one bird had chosen an old nest of 

 the Cactus Wren in which to deposit its eggs, 

 after adding a few feathers. The nest is com- 

 posed of horse hair, lined with feathers. One 

 beautiful one that I found was made entirely of 

 feathers of the Chaparral Cock ((rcororcj/x cali- 

 fiiniidiuixj. Six to seven eggs seemed to be the 

 usual number, but one set I heard of contained 

 nine. Their ground color is white, with snniU 

 reddish specks, generally forming an indistinct 

 wreath arougd the larger end. They do not 

 exhibit much variation. A set of seven meas- 

 ure .05 x. 52; .G5x.50; .64x.52; .0;jx.51; .05 

 X .52 ; .62 x .51 and .65 x .52. 



Tflmdtddi/tes palustris, Long-billed Marsh 

 Wren. We saw several birds in Nueces County 

 and examined several nests, but the latter were 

 all empty at the period that we were there. 

 The guide informed nu; that they bred in large 

 quantities in that locality. 



Mniutilta varin, Black anil white C'reeper. ^V 

 single specimen of this species was shot at Cor- 

 pus Christi on May 1st, during its northward 

 migration. 



Hehninthophai/a phius^ Blue-winged Yellow 

 Warbler. Also secured at Corpus Christi on 

 May 1st, during its migration. 



IIcInnnthoplitKja ruricapilhu Nashville Wai'bler. 

 A si)ecimen secured at Corpus Christi on Mny 

 1st. 



Panda amcricana, Blue fellow-backed War- 

 bler. We saw several of these birds in Comal 

 Couut)^, and cue of my companions found onj 



