ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND — 



OOLOGIST. 



$1.00 pel- 

 Annum. 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, PUBLISHER. 



Established, March, ISV.'). 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, MASS., JUNE, 1887. 



No. 6. 



A Collecting Trip in Texas. 



BY G. B. BENNERS, PHILADELrHIA. PA. 



(Concluded from page 60.) 



Ortyx virginiana texana^ Texan Quail. Very 

 common all over the state. In the vicinity of 

 Laredo there are large quantities of prickly 

 pear cactus, and many of these had nests of 

 this bird under them. The sets were not (com- 

 plete when we were tliere, whicli was about 

 April 23rd. 



We shot a great many of these bir^ls for food, 

 and I noticed that their plumage was always 

 lighter, and the ej'es of the feathers smaller 

 than in the Northern Ortt/x virginiann. The 

 inhabitants of Texas did not i-egard tliem as of 

 much account as an article of food, but we 

 found them excellent. 



Calliiippla sqnnmata, Scaled Quail. On April 

 23rd, 1884, the thermometer was 120"^ in the 

 shade. It was one of the hottest days we ex- 

 perienced while in Texas. On that day. at 

 Laredo, we shot the only five specimens of this 

 bird we saw during our stay. They were very 

 shy, and hid among the cacti, which latter were 

 nearly impenetrable. They ran among these 

 and never took wing. Their note was a single 

 long drawn low whistle, and when uttered 

 seemed as if it came from a long distance oft". 

 At Laredo they are considered rare, and are 

 seldom seen. T 



Arclea occidentalism Great White Heron. Rather 

 common on the Gulf coast. We found them 

 breeding on Padre Island. The nests were 

 large and bulky, and built of sticks, with no 

 lining. They were flat and carelessly made, 

 and placed in Scrub Oak trees. The eggs were 

 always four. 



On May 22iid the sets were complete, as was 

 also the case with the other heron's nests that 

 we found. 



Arclea herodias. Great Blue Heron. The com- 

 monest heron we saw in Texas. It breeds on 

 the small island off the coast, near Corpus 



Christi. The nest resembled that of the Grea' 

 White Heron, and the eggs were generally four 

 in number. 



Garzetta cnndidissima^ Snowy Heron. This 

 species was found breeding in the same locality 

 as the last. The nests were in Scrub Oak trees, 

 and sometimes on the cacti ; and the eggs usu- 

 ally four. 



Dichromanassa riifa, Reddish Egret. This 

 heron breeds like the preceding ones, in col- 

 onies, in the same localities. Nests similar; 

 eggs four. We found birds in the white plum- 

 age breeding those having the reddish. 



Florida cwruJea, Little Blue Heron. Also 

 found breeding in colonies. Eggs four. 



Nijrtlardca grisea mevia, Black-crowned Night 

 Heron. Found to be less plentiful than the pre- 

 ceding herons. 



Xycthcrodins vi'ilacens, White-crowned Night 

 Heron. This species we found breeding on the 

 mainland in Nueces County. Many nests, found 

 May 22nd, contained eggs badl}- incubated. 



Ardetta exilis, Least Bittei-n. Not common. 

 A few seen in Nueces County. One set of five 

 eggs found, the nest being built on the top of 

 the reeds of a salt marsh. 



Tantalus locnlator, Wood Ibis. Not common. 

 We observed a few of them on a fresh water 

 marsh near Corpus Christi, but thev were so 

 shy that we could not get within shooting dis- 

 tance. I heard, on good authority, that they 

 bred in that neighborhood. 



Endocimus albus^ White Ibis. Very common. 

 On May 18th we shot our first specimen on the 

 Nueces River. Said to breed in that locality. 



Plegadis guarauna, White-faced Glossy Ibis. 

 Several of these biixls were seen near Corpus 

 Christi. They seemed to keep near the fresh 

 water ponds in preference to the salt ones, 

 although the White Ibis did not m;ike this dis- 

 tinction. They were so shy that we did not 

 succeed in shooting any. 



Ajaja rosea, Roseate Spoonbill. On May 11th 

 we shot the first one of this species, on the 

 Nueces River, near Corpus Christi, while it 



Copyright, 1887, by F. H. Carpenter and F. B. Webster. 



