Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds of Southern Texas. 467 



near San Antonio, in April and May, and even as late as the 

 23rd September had them brought to me by the vaqueros. It 

 builds a clumsy nest of mezquite-twigs, generally placed at 

 some height on a bough or in the hollow of a mezquite or oak 

 tree, and lays two to four pure white eggs. The food of the 

 Paisano seems to consist entirely of small snakes, lizards, ticks, 

 and large insects, and probably also of field-mice ; for when do- 

 mesticated, it catches mice, and eats them. I examined the 

 stomachs of many, and invariably found them to contain small 

 snakes, lizards, and ticks. 



The Mexicans often keep this bird in a semidomesticated 

 state, in order to kill them in case of sickness ; for they firmly 

 believe that their flesh is a certain cure for many disorders. I 

 had one at Matamoras which became very tame, and at last so 

 mischievous that I could not let it remain in the house. It 

 would steal and hide anything it could carry ofi", and was par- 

 ticularly fond of tearing up letters, spilling the ink, and the 

 like. I never had it caged or tied up, and it would frequently 

 pay the neighbours a visit, always, however, returning before 

 evening. I fed it on raw meat, or lizards when I could procure 

 them. I have never seen a wild Paisano on the wing, 

 though I have chased them on horseback, and can bear testi- 

 mony to their great speed on foot. " Jack," my tame bird, flew 

 with ease, and was very fond of perching on the housetop. He 

 had a strange antipathy to a tame Parrot I had for a short time ; 

 and whenever I let it out of the cage, he would ruffle his feathers, 

 get into a regular rage, and finally decamp to some of the neigh- 

 bours, or go on to the housetop. 



CoccYzus AMERiCANUs (Liunseus) . Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



Not uncommon during the summer at Matamoras and Browns- 

 ville. It is very common near San Antonio, where it arrives 

 about the middle of April, and immediately begins to build its 

 nest. This is a very scanty structure, composed of dry twigs, 

 lined with a few grass- straws, generally placed on one of the 

 larger limbs of an oak or mezquite tree; and the bird lays therein 

 four eggs of a delicate pale blue colour, sometimes clouded with 

 white. Near the Medina River I found altogether about six or 

 seven nests, and could doubtless have found many more had I 



