A Catalogue of Birds obtained in Navarro County, Texas. 203 



in a cotton-field, and are placed on the top of a ridge, into which 

 they are sunk so deep that the upper edge of the framework is 

 upon a level with the surrounding earth. They are placed 

 beneath the shelter of a tuft of grass, or among the stems of the 

 cotton, and are formed of fine roots and grasses thickly lined 

 with hair. I found one nest built in a mesquite about ten feet 

 from the ground ; it was a clumsy looking structure, formed of 

 similar materials to their ordinary nests, but covered outside 

 with loosely put-on fragments of the Texas everlasting plant. 

 The eggs, which are usually five in number, are deposited at 

 various times from the middle of May to the end of June. These 

 birds are peculiarly liable to a disease of the feet, which causes 

 the claws, and even the toes to drop ofi", and forms hard round 

 lumps in their place ; very few examples are free from this. 

 Their food consists of seeds, and insects, especially grasshoppers, 

 and not unfrequently a few green leaves are swallowed. Its 

 song, which is continued untiringly from morning till night, is 

 clear, vigorous, and sweet. 



ZONOTRICHIA QUERULA (Nutt.) Harris' Sparrow. — This hand- 

 some and powerful finch is a common winter visitor, arriving 

 about the middle of November, and frequenting thickets of green 

 brier, and other underwood in the vicinity of taller trees, in com- 

 pany with Z. alhicollis, and Passer ella iliaca. They are tame birds, 

 but still sufficiently wary to keep the densest growth of bushes 

 between themselves and the intruder ; but if driven from their 

 covert they merely fly up into the branches of the overhanging 

 trees. They are very local in their distribution, certain favoured 

 spots being always full of them, while neighbouring brakes, 

 apparently similar in all respects, never hold a single example. 

 They have a quick, sharp call-note which they utter incessantly 

 in a vexed, uneasy manner, when approached. By the end of 

 February they have all left this district. 



L ZoNOTRiCHiA LEUCOPHRYS (Forst.) White-crowned Sparrow. 

 — This species is only a migrant in our district, passing rapidly 

 through on its periodical journeys in spring and fall. In the 

 former they pass about the latter part of April, and beginning of 

 May, and are then often found along fences far out on the prairie ; 

 but in fall they arrive in large numbers about the last week in 

 October, and passing in a much more leisurely manner, remain 



SciEN. Peoc. R.D.S., Vol. hi., Pt. v. S 2 



