Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds of Southern Texas. 313 



Tyrannus couchi or melancholicus, a great variety of the small 

 green Flycatchers {Vireo), Dendrceca cestiva, Cotyle riparia, Hi- 

 rundo lunifrons, Progne purpurea, Mimus polyglottus, Harpo^ 

 rhynchus curvirostris, Guiraca cterulea, Cyanospiza ciris, CardiJialis 

 virginianus, Icterus baltimore, Columba flavirostris, Melopelia 

 leucoptera, Chamcepelia passerina, Ortalida maccalli, Ortyx texa- 

 nus, &c. &c. In the grove up the river Tyrannus couchi, Mil' 

 vulusforficatus, and other Flycatchers were breeding abundantly, 

 but all had young. All three species of Night-Hawks were 

 common, and in the dusk of the evening came flying towards 

 the river, literally by thousands. 



Towards the middle of August the birds of passage began to 

 appear, and the town-lagoon swarmed with Herons and Waders 

 of all sorts; indeed I shot thirteen White Herons [Garzetta can- 

 didissima) at one discharge. The Mexicans seldom take the 

 trouble of going out shooting ; and there being so few English 

 there, I had it almost entirely to myself, and spent an hour or 

 two at the lagoon every day. I generally turned out at four 

 o'clock in the morning, and thus had four or five hours outside 

 the town before breakfast. Amongst the birds occurring at the 

 lagoon I may name the Stilt-Sandpiper {Micropalama himan- 

 topus), which I often got when making a " pot-hunting '' shot 

 into a flock of Brown Snipes [Macrorhamplms g?iseus) ; indeed I 

 could have shot eight or ten daily, as I rarely saw a flock of these 

 Snipes without three or four Stilt-Sandpipers being with them. 

 The Bufi'-breasted Sandpipers [Tryngites rufescens) appeared late 

 in August, and were generally found on some grass near the 

 lagoon, and not consorting with the other Sandpipers. Wilson's 

 and the Semipalmated Sandpipers {Tringa wilsoni and E7-eu- 

 netes petrificatus) were very common. A few Godwits [Limosa 

 fedoa) and Curlews [Numenius hngirostris and N. hudsonicus) 

 also frequented the lagoon, and two species of Ibis {Ibis alba and 

 /. ordii) were very common. Several flocks of Spoonbills [Pla- 

 talea ajaja) also showed themselves, and I shot four or five at 

 different times. Hawks and Woodpeckers seemed to be the 

 rarest birds at Matamoras ; indeed I only noticed one species of 

 each [Craxirex unicinctus and Picus scalaris) during the whole 

 time I was there. 



