66 



ORmTHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-:N'o. 5 



Blackbird, (Scolecophagus cyanoce.phalus ) and 

 the Great-tailed Grackle, ( Quiscalus macrurus) . 



Xanthocephalus icterocephalus^ Yellow-headed 

 Blackbird. Found in large flocks at Corpus 

 Christi, but it does not breed in that locality. 



Sturnella neglecta, Western Meadow Lark. 

 Common in Comal County. Had not begun to 

 breed by April 1st. 



Icterus aitdtiboni, Audubon's Oriole. A rare 

 species. One nest was found with young birds, 

 built about fifteen feet up in a mesquite tree, 

 within a few feet of the railroad track. We 

 had a good view of the bird fi'oni the car win- 

 dow, but it flew away before we got to the tree. 



Icterus cucullatus, Hooded Oriole. Several 

 birds of this species were seen at Corpus Christi 

 but they are not plentiful there. A nest found 

 in the top of a mesquite tree contained four 

 eggs, similar to those of the Baltimore Oriole, 

 (Icterus galhula). l^ was built entirely of horse 

 hair and was of a bottle shape, and measured 

 six inches in depth, with a diameter at the bot- 

 tom (outside) of four inches, and at the top of 

 two inches. It was transparent and very firm. 

 A set of four eggs measure .91x.64; .90x.66; 

 .95 X .64 and .94 x 64. 



Icterus spurius, Orchard Oriole. Very abun- 

 dant and breeds in Live Oaks principally. The 

 eggs were always four in number. 



Icterus bullocki^ Bullock's Oriole. Found at 

 Corpus Christi, but rather scarce. The nest 

 resembles that of the Orchard Oriole, and the 

 eggs, four in number, were nuich like those of 

 the Icterus galbula. 



Scolecophagus cyanocephalus^ Brewer's Black- 

 bird. We saw large flocks of these in the 

 streets of Corpus Christi, and also on the roofs 

 of houses. We did not find any nests. 



Quiscalus macrurus. Great-tailed Grackle. On 

 May 5th, at Padre Island, in the Gulf of Mexi- 

 co, we found a large colony of these birds breed- 

 ing. The nests were built of fibres of cactus, 

 lined with coarse grass. They were situated in 

 a swamp in the tops of low bushes, about three 

 feet from the ground. The eggs were always 

 five in number, and are of a bluish white ground 

 color, but many of them have a purplish tinge 

 extending over part of the shell. They are 

 marked with straggling lines of black, some- 

 what after the manner of an oriole's egg. They 

 show great variation in the markings, but aver- 

 age 1.34 x. 89 in size. One nest of this species 

 was found in a Spanish Bayonet tree, about five 

 feet from the ground; and a foot above the 

 blackbird's nest, a Caracara Eagle {Polyborus 

 cheriway) had chosen its nesting place, and in 

 the latter were three young Caracaras. 



Corvus cry2)toleucus, White-necked Raven. 

 Very rare, but four birds were seen at Laredo, 

 of which we shot one on April 21st. The peo- 

 ple said they bred twenty miles up the Rio 

 Grande in clifts. They appeared to be shy, and 

 the specimen we secured was shot at dusk. 



Ercmophila alpestris girardi, Texan Shore 

 Lark. Rather abundant at Corpus Christi, 

 where they bred on the ground in the salt 

 meadows. The nest was made of coarse grass, 

 and was sunken in the soil. Four eggs were 

 laid, having a white ground color, heavily 

 marked with brown specks. 



Milvulus fvrficatus, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. 

 Very abundant. Breeds in mesquite trees. 

 The nest is general!}- about five feet from the 

 ground, and is made of cotton seeds and stems, 

 and lined with grass and hair, sometimes with 

 a few feathers. As many as six eggs were 

 found, but four is the common number. 



Myiarchus crinitiis, Great-crested P^lycatcher. 

 We saw several birds but did not find them 

 breeding. 



Trochilus colubris, Ruby-throated Humming- 

 bird. Very abundant in Comal County, where 

 they breed. 



Trochilus alexandri, Black-chinned Hununing- 

 bird. As common in Comal County as the 

 Ruby-throat, but breeding later. 



Antrostomus carolinensis, Chuck-vvill's-widow. 

 Rather abundant in Comal County. A nest 

 was found on April 17th, containing two eggs, 

 measuring 1.44 x 1.03 and 1.42 x 1.06. 



Chordeiles acutipennis texensis, Texan Night- 

 hawk. We saw several specimens of this bird 

 at Laredo, and secured three sets of their eggs. 

 They are rather scarce, and are protected by 

 the people, who believe that a death will come 

 to the family who allow them to be shot. 



Picus scalaris, Texan Sapsucker. Plentiful 

 in Comal County, where they breed in holes in 

 dead trees, about twenty or thirty feet from the 

 ground. We got two sets of their eggs, each 

 of which contained five. They resemble those 

 of the Downy Woodpecker, (Picus pubescens) . 



Centurus aurifrons., Golden-fronted Wood- 

 pecker. We found these birds abundant in 

 Nueces County, where their favorite breeding 

 places are the telegraph poles. I noticed one 

 of these which contained four nests. On May 

 23rd I found a nest containing four eggs, of a 

 soiled white color, and measuring 1.05 x. 79; 

 1.05 X .79 ; 1.05 X .80 and 1.03 x .73. 



Ceryle americana cabanisi, Texan Kingfisher. 

 One specimen was observed in Comal County, 

 on the Guadalupe River. Several nests had 

 previously been found in former years in this 



