A Catalogue of Birds obtained in Navarro County, Texas. 185 



Their food consists almost entirely of insects chiefly in the grub 

 stage, but occasionally a few small seeds are to be found. 



Neocorys spraguei (Aud.) Sprague's Pipit. — This pipit is 

 one of the most plentiful of the cold weather visitors to the barer 

 districts, arriving in pairs or small family parties during the 

 latter half of September, and inhabiting the most sandy and 

 barren parts of the prairie in preference to the cultivated fields, 

 and in all cases avoiding the vicinity of trees ; and, as the winter 

 advances, they become even more unsocial in their habits, so that 

 it is very rare to see more than a pair together, though they are 

 all mated by the end o£ April, when they leave us. In most of 

 their actions they are eminently pipit-like, but their call-note is 

 shriller and wilder. They are not nearly so unsuspicious as the 

 brown pipit, and are more difficult to obtain, since, when ap- 

 proached, they run behind the nearest tussock of the coarse grass 

 which sparsely covers the barren uplands which they delight in, 

 and there, with head stretched out to full length, they squat down 

 as close as possible to the ground, to which their colours assimi- 

 late so well, that it is almost impossible to perceive them unless 

 they move; but, if too closely approached, they rise with a 

 sudden spring, and after flying for a few yards parallel to the 

 surface, they wheel sharply to one side and upwards, greatly 

 quickening the pace at the same time, and so rise in gentle undu- 

 lations until they have attained a height of about one hundred 

 yards, when, after circling for a few minutes overhead, they 

 suddenly close their wings, and, dropping like a stone to earth, 

 alight at once and squat as before ; if, however, much disturbed, 

 they frequently protract their flight out of sight. Their food 

 consists of grasshoppers, smaller insects, and sometimes seeds. 



With regard to the generic peculiarities of Neocorys, it is cer- 

 tainly a mistake to say that the rictus is without bristles ; though 

 not so long as in typical Anthus, these bristles are easily appa- 

 rent in fresh specimens, and of the numerous examples which I 

 examined carefully, but two had the outer primary longest, the 

 most usual gradation of the outer four being 3, 2, 1, 4, The 

 most notable difference in size and form between this and A. 

 ludovicianus is the enormously enlarged foot of Neocorys, in 

 which both middle and hind toes (including their claws) exceed 

 the tarsus. With this exception, there is little difference in the 



SciEN. Pboc. K.D.S., Vol. hi., Pt. v. R 



