420 



BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [TolY. 



(SpermojjMlus onexicanus), proving them active liunters, instead of tlie 

 sluggish birds they api^eared the year before at Brownsville. They are 

 silent, and not very shy. Young from the egg are covered with down, 

 more plentifully on crown and back than elsewhere ; are colored white 

 on under parts, shading to buff, and ochraceous on back and head, and 

 are very pretty little chicks. Dissection of a female on Ai^ril 11 dis- 

 covered an egg almost ready to lay. On April 22, two sets of eggs 

 were taken four or five miles from Lomita, one twenty-five feet high in 

 an ebony-tree, the other twenty feet high in a mesquite. Each con- 

 tained three eggs hard sat upon. On May 12, a nest situated some 

 thirty feet high contained two young seA^eral days out of the egg, 

 and an addled egg. On May 25, from a nest some twenty feet high, 

 three young were taken. Three, then, is evidently the full comple- 

 ment of eggs. Both parents assist in the duties of incubation and care 

 of the young, being sometimes fearless in protecting them. The eggs 

 are a dull white, and ahuost, if not quite, free from markings, these 

 consisting of a few small brown specks. As is usual with most Hawks' 

 eggs, the lining is rich green. The average of seventeen eggs, includ- 

 ing Dr. Merrill's with my own, is 2.0G by 1.64. 



82 

 247 

 403 

 405 

 407 

 503 

 507 



9 



9 



9 



Juv. 



JllV. 



9 



Lomita 

 ...do . 

 ...do . 

 ...do . 

 ...do . 

 ...do . 

 ...do . 



April 11 

 April 29 

 May 11 

 May 12 

 May 12 

 May 25 

 May 25 



22.00 

 21. 50 

 22.00 



21.00 



47.00 

 46. 50 

 47.00 



44.00 



14.50 

 15. 00 

 14.50 



13. 25 

 14. 25 



10.00 

 9.75 

 9,50 



9. 50 

 10,00 



105. BuTEO PENNSTLVANICTJS (Wils.) Bp — Brocid-winged Buzzard. 



Not uncommon at Lomita during April. It is probable that some 

 remain there to breed. On April 11 we saw fifty or more flying about 

 over the woods and in among the trees. We shot seven or eight, and 

 might have taken more. They were in various stages of plumage, and 

 were no doubt migrating. A few were taken in May. I give measure- 

 ments of but two. 



93 



94 



Lomita - 

 ....do .. 



April 11 

 April 11 



13.50 

 15.25 



34.00 

 35.00 



11. 50 

 10. 75 



7.00 

 6.25 



108. BuTEO ALBICAUDATTJS, Y. — White-tailed Buzzard. 



IButeo albicaudatus, Coues, The Country, July 13, 1878, p. 184, 1st columu, 

 near tlie top (Eio Grande of Texas, G. B. Sennett; first introduction to 

 U. S. fauna).— Brewer, The Country, July 13, 1878, p, 184, 1st column, 

 near the bottom (Kio Grande of Texas, J. C. Merrill; second introduction 

 to U. S. fauna). 

 For the description of this species, with a very full synonymy, see EiDGW. apiid 

 Merrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. i, Oct. 2, 1878, pp, 154-157, — E. C] 



On March 27, 1878, I shot a fine fuU-plumaged female of this species 

 as she was flying with her mate over a small island in Lagoona Madre, 



