22 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



The largest egg was 1.02 by 0.72 ; the smallest, 0.94 by 0.72 ; average 

 size, 0.96 by 0.72. 



74—^—8.15 X 11.25 X 3.50 x 3.50. Mar. 25, Brownsville. 



92—^—8.25 X 11.50 x 3.65 x 4.00. Mar. 27, Brownsville. 



164— <?— 8.00 X 11.75x3.60x4.00. Apr. 6, Brownsville. 



192— <? —8.75 X 11.40 x 3.60 x 4.00. Apr. 9, Brownsville. 



218— 5 —8.25 X 11.25 x 3.40 x 3.75. Apr. 17, Hidalgo. 



232—^—8.00x11.00x3.50x4.00. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 



237— $ —8.75 X 11.00 x 3.60 x 4.00. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 



359— $ —9.00 X 11.50 x 3.50 x 4.25. May 4, Hidalgo. 



364— 5 —8.00 X 10.75 x 3.25 x 3.75. May 4, Hidalgo. 



Embernagra rufivirgata, Lawr. — Green Finch. 



1 met this bird frequently, both iu the vicinity of Brownsville and 

 Hidalgo. It would take a long time to become well acquainted with 

 the habits of this species, on account of its color being so little distin- 

 guishable from the shade of the thickets which it frequents. I do not 

 consider it shy. I have several times been obliged to retreat before 

 shooting, to save the bird from being blown to pieces. On May 5th, I 

 spent two or three hours watching a Green Finch carrying grasses in its 

 beak, but my patience was unrewarded with the sight of its nest. In 

 addition to the two nests found last year,* Dr. Merrill writes me of find- 

 ing others since I left. This demonstrates that they raise at least two 

 broods within our limits, one in May and June, the other in August and 

 September. 



138— $ —6.50 X 8.50 x 2.40 x 2.50. Apr. 2, Brownsville. 



165—^—6.50x9.00x2.75x2.60. Apr. 6, Brownsville. 



328—^—6.75x9.00x2.50x2.60. May 2, Hidalgo. 



377— a* —6.15 X 8.50 X 2.60 X 2..50. May 6, Hidalgo. 



414—^—6.50x8.75x2.60x2.75. May 10, Hidalgo. 



417— 2 —6.00 X 8.75 x 2.45 x 2.50. May 11, Hidalgo. 



lOTERID^. 



Molothrus ater obscurus, {Gm.) Coues.f — Dwarf CowUrd. 



This bird made its appearance in force at Brownsville about April 1st, 

 falling in at once with M. pecoris and the troops of other Blackbirds. 

 By the first of May, all of M. pecoris had gone north, and the Dwarf 

 variety was abundant everywhere in its place. At the stable where I 

 was in the habit of going for horses, they fairly swarmed, coming in at 

 the open doorways with Quiscalus macrurus, Great-tailed Grackle, 

 Scolecophagus cyanocephalus, Blue-headed Grackle, and Molothrus wneus, 

 Eed-eyed Cowbird. The Dwarf Cowbird was conspicuous among them 

 all, hopping on, under, and all about the horses after food. It is marked 

 exactly like 31. pecoris, hnt is very perceptibly smaller. Its habits are 

 in every respect the same. I found one egg in a nest of Icterus hullocki, 

 Bullock's Oriole, and another in a nest of Icterus ciicullatus, Hooded 



* See Bulletin of Nuttall Orn. Club, i. 89, Nov. 1876. 

 t Cf. Birds of the Northwest, 1874, 180. 



