Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds uf Southern Texas. 315 



and was able to spare enough for several parties camping near 

 us. I found the Field-Plover very common and excellent eating ; 

 indeed we did not willingly eat anything else so long as we could 

 get them. The Buff-breasts [Tryngites rufescens) were common, 

 and also proved good eating ; only they were too small. They 

 were found in small flocks by the roadside and in grassy places, 

 and in their habits reminded me much of the Kentish Plover 

 [jEgialites cantianus). Near Barton^s Bancho I noticed several 

 Ducks and a Phalarope (probably Phalaropus wilsoni) on a pond j 

 and at a clump of trees near it several Hawks, amongst which 

 I could distinguish Buteo borealis and B. pennsylvanicus. From 

 here to Victoria the country was very beautiful, with the excep- 

 tion of a few portions from Barton^s Bancho to the Nueces, and 

 the avifauna seemed changed to a large extent. Shrikes [Collyrio 

 ludovicianus) , Woodpeckers, and Hawks were abundant ; and I 

 was able to add lots of Quail ( Ortyx texanus) and a few Prairie- 

 hens [Cupidonia cupido) to our bill-of-fare. At first Curlews 

 were very abundant, and not difficult to approach; but the further 

 east we travelled, the fewer we noticed. Sandhill-Cranes [Gims 

 canadensis) were also not uncommon ; and I am pretty sure that 

 I saw several little Cranes [G. f rater cuius). 



We remained several days at Victoria, and then started off to 

 York Town, and from there to San Antonio. We spent our 

 last night at Sulphur Springs; and the host there (Sutherland), 

 a keen hunter, showed me two fine heads of the Virginian Deer, 

 which had the horns locked together so that they could not be 

 disengaged without breaking them. He had found the deer 

 dead, and partly decomposed. As he did not seem to value 

 them much, I offered him a box of E ley's caps for them, which 

 he eagerly accepted. I afterwards sent them to Bi-ownsville, 

 where they were eventually lost. 



At San Antonio I settled down for the time being, and sub- 

 sequently made that place my head-quarters until I finally left 

 the country in July 1864. 



I was fortunate in finding Dr. A. L. Heermann at San Antonio, 

 and arranged to live in the same house with him. This was a 

 great advantage to me, as often, when obliged to leave birds 

 half skinned to attend to business, he would kindly finish them 



