52 



OKOTTIIOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-:N"o. 4: 



ed all throiio-h it, and wasted a great many ad- 

 jectives for nearly an liour, and were just about 

 to give it up, when suddenly up i)opped the 

 bird from under our very feet, and tti'w to some 

 more bushes a short distance oil". 'I'his time we 

 marked liim and all four of us surrounded his 

 hiding place. >Ve soon got him and what was 

 our deliglit to discover that it was a Black-cap- 

 ped N'ireo! That was one of the special birds 

 we came to Texas for, and here it was at last! 



After continuing for some distance, we found 

 a nest of this species. It was built in a fork of 

 a twig of a live oak tree, and resembled very 

 nuich the nest of the White-eyed Vireo, ( Vireo 

 norchoriu-i'uxh). It was constructed of strips 

 of bark, lined with coarse flbi'es of hemp and 

 flax, and was cup-shaped, like all the nests of 

 the vireos. It measured t)ne and a half inches 

 deep outside. The outside diameter was two 

 inches, and that of the inside one and three- 

 quarters. The eggs, four in number, were pure 

 white, and entirely unspotted. They closely 

 resemble those of the Barn Swallow, {Hiritiuhi 

 eri/thnxjaatra) and measure .71x.5r>; .72x.5r); 

 .71 X .53, and .G7 x .49. 



The note of this bird resembles that of the 

 White-eyed Vii-eo. They are extremely shy 

 and hard to shoot and in their motions resem- 

 ble the Winter Wren, {^iiiorthitra troi/hnU/tcfi 

 hijcnud is) dod^'mg in and out among the bushes. 



I secured four more birds before we left, and 

 altogether about eleven spccinuMis were taken 

 by the part}-. 



Mrco belli, Bell's Vireo. We saw two birds 

 of this species in Comal County. 

 (To be Continued.) 



Bryant's "Additions to the Ornithol- 

 ogy of Guadalupe Island." 



I'ndcr the aliove title Mi'. Walter K. Biyant 

 recently read a most interesting and valuable 

 paper before the California Academy of Sci- 

 ence, which lias been published in the Sixth 

 Bulletin of that Institution, and a syno[)sis of 

 which is given below. 



in 1875 Dr. Edwin Palmer visited the island 

 and procured seventy-two specimens, embrac- 

 ing eight species of land binls and one water 

 bird, ft>r the National Museum. These were 

 described by Mr. Kobert IMdgway in Bulletin 

 Hayden's Surve}', 1S70, No. 2. Mr. IJryant has 

 twice visited the inland, in January, 18S5, and 

 in December of the same year. The latter visit 



was quite an extended one, occupying as it did 

 nearly four months. He describes it as ex- 

 tremely ditlicult of access, and situated two 

 hundred and twenty miles to the Southward 

 and Westward of San Diego. It is about tif- 

 teen miles long, and five miles wide at its broad- 

 est point, and of volcanic origin. Its highest 

 point is ovei- 4500 feet. Tlie southern portion 

 of the island is rocliv and barren, with no trees. 

 Here the vegetation is stunted. To the Nortli 

 there is a decaying forest of pines, while on the 

 Northwestern slope is a large grove of cabbage 

 palms. 



Mr. Bryant describes the avifauna as consist- 

 ing of thirty-tive species, of nearly all of whidi 

 he procured specimens, while of some he col- 

 lected large series. 



1. Lams ocddentalis, Western Ciuil. A few 

 birds seen otl" the sliore, and Mr. Bryant lliinks 

 that they breed on the island. 



2. J^iiffiiuts (javia, Bbu-k- vented Shearwater. 

 One decayed specimen found. 



3. OccdHodroma leurorrhoa. Leach's IVtivl. 

 Abundant. A large series obtained, and also 

 many eggs. Nest in hillside, and burrow ex- 

 tending from one to three feet; at tlie end of 

 this, on a few pine needles, Mr. Bryant found 

 the single egg always laid by Petrels. Aver- 

 age measurement of tifty eggs taken March 4tli 

 and 5th is .'{5.7x27 millimeters. 



4. Aiiscr alhifons (/ainbi'U, American White- 

 fronted Goose. One specimen shot. 



5. Ihitco bdrcaUs cdlnnis, Western Hed-tail. 

 IJesident, but extremel)' wary, and only one. 

 specimen, an adult male obtained. 



(). Pohjborus Intosus, Gaudahqx' Caracara. 

 Common, ten si)ecimens obtained. ''By the 

 latter part of April,'" Mr. Bryant writes, "the 

 birds had apparently not paired, and I believe 

 that the eggs are not laid until the latter part 

 of May or June. The Mexicans said that a dill" 

 was always chosen for a nesting place, thus 

 making their nests dilHcult to tind, and still 

 more ditlicult of access. This being tlie case, I 

 fear the eggs will long remain unknown." 



S. Spcotyto ninicitlaria h!ij)i>i/a'((. Burrowing 

 Owl. A single pair seen. 



i). ( 'fdaptcs ruripilcits, (iuadalupe Flicker. Not 

 rare, but restricted in area to the cj'press grove. 

 Ten birds taken, and on April 7th a set of six 

 fresh eggs. They were dei>osited at the bottom 

 of a hole in a decayed tree, at a depth of twenty 

 inches. " They correspond exactly," Mr. l>ry- 

 antsays, '" both in color and general shape, with 

 scores of other eggs of this genus, and ott'er the 

 following measurements in millimeters : 28 x 22 ; 

 2Sx22; 28x22.5; 29x22; 29.5x22; 29.5x22." 



