A Catalog ue of Birds obtained in Navarro County, Texas. 215 



fields, feeding like them on seeds and insects. The difierent forms 

 of Sturnella are more often found dead beneath the telegraph 

 wires than any other species. 



Icterus spurius (Linn.) Orchard Oriole. — One of the most 

 abundant of the summer visitors to the prairie, on which they 

 arrive about the middle of April, the males preceding their part- 

 ners by a week or ten days. They quickly spread themselves 

 over the county, frequenting only the open districts, and during 

 their stay they are especially common on the prairie farms con- 

 taining peach orchards, and in all places diversified by scattered 

 coppices, or isolated mesquite and locusts. Immediately after the 

 arrival of the females, they commence their seasonal duties, and 

 by the third week of May the eggs of the first brood are in process 

 of incubation. In this duty the males perform no mean part, not 

 only taking their turn on the eggs, but even feeding their mates 

 while sitting, so that when the incessancy of their song is taken 

 into consideration, very little time appears to be left for attending 

 to their own wants. The nests are placed most commonly on 

 peach trees or mesquites, the lowest or the highest branches 

 being indifierently chosen, and though never breeding, strictly 

 speaking, in societies, several inhabited nests are often built 

 within a small area, while upon the open prairie, where suit- 

 able sites are scarce, it is no unusual thing to find two on the 

 same tree along with those of the scissor- tail and mocking-bird, 

 the parents living together with perfect unanimity. The nests 

 are always placed near the extremity of a branch, with no 

 attempt at concealment, and are pensile, the upper edge being 

 carefuUy fastened to several small twigs which are interlaced back 

 and forwards with the fabric. The materials used are long, fine 

 dry o-rasses neatly woven together, and occasionally a few feathers 

 are added by way of a lining ; more often, however, there is no 

 special lining. Sometimes these nests are so thin that the eggs 

 may be seen through the bottom, but they are at all times so 

 strong that they resist even severe winter storms without losing- 

 shape. A second brood is produced in July, the male meanwhile, 

 in addition to his other arduous duties, feeding and watching over 

 the safety of the first clutch. By the end of August most of 

 these birds have left, but a few, chiefly females and young, linger 

 for a fortnight after that date. The males do not attain the adulfc 



