38 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



286— 9 —21.50 X 20.00 x 6.85 x 10.75. Apr. 27, Hidalgo. 



358— 9 —21.50 X 20.00 x 6.50 x 10.50. May 4, Hidalgo. 



3C6— 9 —21.00 X 19.50 x 6.25 x 9.75. May 5, Hidalgo. 



382— <?— 22.00 X 20.00 x 6.50 x 10.25. May 6, Hidalgo. 



405— 9 —21.00 X 20.00 x 6,10 x 10.00 May 8, Hidalgo. 



CocCYGUS AMERICANUS, {L.) Bp. — Yellow-hilled Cuckoo. 



I met this species occasionally. Several sets of eggs were brought 

 me, aud the boys were positive of their belonging to this bird, as they 

 undoubtedly do. Their shape is long, double-rounded. Their color is 

 rich pea-green. Their average size is 1.20 by 0.92. 



379— 9 —12.00 X 17.00 x 5.90 x 5.75. May 6, Hidalgo. 



PIOID^. 



Picus SCALARIS, Wagler. — Texas Woodpecker. 



This and Centurus aurifrons are the only ones of the family we found 

 on the Eio Grande. The former, though not so abundant as the latter, 

 is found common among the timber and mezquite chaparral. The soft- 

 wood telegraph poles give proof also of the numbers of both species. I 

 saw nothing in the habits of this small Woodpecker differing from our 

 Downy Woodpecker of the North. Suitable trees for their nests were 

 some distance out of Brownsville, and as we were not allowed to tamper 

 with the government telegraph poles, we did not secure eggs at that 

 place. When we reached Hidalgo, the season was pretty far advanced 

 for them, and when we found their nests they all contained young. I 

 found one nest, with four young, in the heart of the village. This bird 

 breeds earlier than the Yellow-faced Woodpecker. April 29th, I flushed 

 a bird from its nest, seven feet from the ground, in a partially decayed 

 tree, and found within three young and one perfect egg, which for- 

 tunately was not fertilized. At another time, another nest of this 

 species was found containing young and one egg. I took it to our room, 

 and laid it on the table with other eggs. The next day, when going to 

 blow it, imagine my surprise to see it in halves and a young bird ex- 

 posed. The chick had pecked around the greater diameter until it had 

 parted as nicely as could be. Both eggs have the greatest diameter 

 nearer one end than the other. Their color is clear glassy-white. The 

 vsize of the whole one is 0.77 by 0.60. That of the broken one is cer- 

 tainly no longer, and may be 0.05 of an inch broader. These facts and 

 figures are so at variance with the description of egg given by Baird, 

 Brewer and Ridgway in " North American Birds", ii. 519, that I must 

 believe that they have given a description of some other egg. Their 

 description answers so nearly to the egg of Centurus aurifrons, that I 

 should say it referred to the latter, rather than to Picus scalaris, 



65— S —7.00 X 13.25 x 4.00 x 2.75. Mar. 24, Brownsville. 



75— i —7.50 X 13.50 x 4.10 x 2.25. Mar. 25, Brownsville. 



147 — <? —7.50 X 13.25 x 4.00 x 2.40. Apr. 3, Brownsville. 



148— 9 —7.10 X 13 00 X 4.05 x 2.50. Apr. 3, Brownsville. 



214—^-7.25 X 13.25 x 4.00 x 2.50. Apr. 17, Hidalgo. 



355— 9 —7.25 x 13.00 x 3.85 x 2.40. May 3, Hidalgo. 



