A Catalogue of Birds obtained in Navarro County, Texas. 249 



at diving, by which alone they seek to escape danger, never at- 

 tempting to fly, and they swim very low in the water, with the 

 head stretched out in front close down to the surface, and sink 

 when fired at with wonderful celerity. 



Mergus merganser americanus, Cass. American Shel- 

 dral<-e. — I shot a fine specimen of this duck from a flock of 

 twelve upon the 6th December, 1880, at a small pond in the wood- 

 lands. This was the only occasion on which I saw them. 



LoPHODYTES cucuLLATUS (Linn.) Hooded Sheldrake. — This 

 beautiful duck is a regular visitor to the woodland waters of our- 

 county, arriving about the middle of November and remaining 

 until well on in March. They are shy birds, and very difficult 

 to obtain, since even when approached within easy range they 

 dive so quickly that it is a hard matter to hit them, and if 

 untouched they rise out of range and immediately take wing. 



Pelecanus erythrorhynchus, Gmel A merican White Pel- 

 ican. — During a heavy norther in October, 1880, a pair of these 

 unmistakable birds passed over our house going in a south-easterly 

 direction. These were the only living specimens which I observed, 

 but there is a fine example from the neighbourhood of Dallas in 

 the collection of Dr. Thomas of that city. 



Plotus anhinga, Linn. Snake-bird. — An example of this 

 curious bird was caught in a net in an overflow pond in the timber 

 during August, 1879. Though in an advanced stage of decomposi- 

 tion who a it came under my notice, it was of course easily recog- 

 nizable. Its captors called it a water-turkey. 



LARiDiE (sp.)? — During October, 1880, a large straggling flock of 

 gulls passed me on the prairie, but unfortunately out of range. 

 They were of two species, the most numerous being about the size 

 of and similarly coloured to the herring gull and may have been 

 L. smithsonianus; the second -was of the size of the black-headed 

 gull and was probably L. franklini. 



PoDiLYMBUS podiceps (Linn.) Thiclc-billed Grebe. — I shot the 

 only specimen of this bird which I saw on the 20th October, 1880, 

 at a tank on the open prairie; its stomach was crammed with grass 

 among which were a few small beetles. During the fall I frequently 

 saw a large brown grebe in the ponds of the timber districts 

 but they were so wild, and dived so quickly when fired at that 

 I never succeeded in obtaining a specimen for identification. 



SciEN. Peoc. E.D.S., Vol. hi., Pt. v. X 



