A Catalogue of Birds obtained in Navarro County, Texas. 207 



lands, especially in the neighbourhood of water. They are gene- 

 rally found in pairs, resorting to thick clumps of low bushes and 

 the tops of fallen trees, the latter being almost a certain find, and 

 are not easily obtained, as they lie hidden among dead leaves and 

 rubbish on the ground beneath such places, and do not stir as 

 long as the intruder remains in the vicinity of their hiding place. 

 In April it was the most abundant bird in the creeks. They feed 

 indiscriminately on seeds and insects. They pass again on their 

 return journey during October, but in much smaller numbers 

 than during the spring migration, and at this season appear to 

 keep more to the bottom lands, perhaps because of the absence of 

 water in the creeks. Not ev^en at this time are they in the 

 slightest degree gregarious, but, on the contrary, show great 

 aversion to the near presence of any of their own species. 



Passekella iliaca (Merrem.) Fox-coloured Sparrow. — This 

 powerful species is a common winter visitor to the wooded 

 creeks which intersect the prairies, frequenting spots where an 

 undergrowth of briers and vines springs up around the roots of 

 loftier trees. They arrive with us about the middle of November 

 in small flocks, which, however, soon break up ; and, during the 

 remainder of their stay, which lasts until the end of February, 

 they are most frequently seen singly or in pairs. This, however, 

 arises from no want of sociability, since they are always found in 

 company with Zonotrichice, which they resemble in many of their 

 habits. Like them, when driven from their briery strongholds, 

 they merely take refuge among the middle branches of the trees 

 overhead, where they consider themselves quite safe from harm. 

 Thouo-h so eminently a woodland bird, it is never found in the 

 dense timber of the river bottom, but only on the outskirts and 

 in the narrow creeks. Their food consists both of seeds and 

 insects, and sometimes also of small shells. 



PiPiLO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS (Linn.) Towhee. — This fine finch, 

 which resembles the last-mentioned species in many ways, is also 

 a common visitor, arriving early in November, and leaving again 

 by the end of March. They are very terrestrial in their habits, 

 frequenting dense thickets of underbush, among the leaves beneath 

 which they scratch for food in the manner of gallinaceous birds. 

 It is rare to find more than three or four of these birds in the 

 same thicket, except perhaps on their first arrival, previous to 



