422 



BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [ToiV- 



Two or throe ejijivs arc ljii<l in a clutch. My two eggs average 2.31 by 

 1.78, whidi, with Dr. Merrill's measurcnients, give au average of about 

 2.30 bv l.SO inches. 



Oorpna Cluisti. 



Ijomita 



....do 



Marcli 2\ 

 April ir> 

 JMay 7 



-2\. 00 

 'il.OO 



20. r>o 



52.00 

 48. 00 



10. 75 

 15. 00 

 14.75 



8.75 

 7.75 

 7.75 



CATHARTID.^. 



108. CATIIAKTES aura (L.) ll\.—Ti()-hrt/ Hu.:.:anl 



Counnou at Loniita iu couiininy with the Black Vulture. Its eggs 

 arc laid upon the ground iu the dense woods. 



lot). Catiiartes atratus (Bartr.) Less. — BlacJ: ViilfKre. 



Very eonunou. I have never found this bird or the Turkey Buzzard 

 breeding in connnunities, as has been recorded, nor did I, like Mr. 

 .Dresser, tind it nesting in trees. Its eggs were laid ujion the ground 

 or in hollow lous in the Avoods. 



COLUMBID.E. 



110. CoLi":\rRA PLAYiROSTRis Waglcr. — Eed-hiUed Tlgeon. 



Through the kindness of Br. S. M. Finley, U. S. A., who was stationed 

 at camp near Hidalgo, and a good observer of animal life, I obtained 

 A"aluablc information concerning the arrival and departure of the Pigeons. 

 In answer to my enquiries in regard to this species, he gave the following 

 from his note-book for 1878 : " First noticed on January Sith, in flocks ; 

 about the middle of February they were seen in the woods in pairs and 

 cooing. The last seen of them in 1877 was the latter part of ifovember. 

 These Pigeons Avere seen several times consorting with tame Pigeons iu 

 the ebony-trees in the neighborhood of the village of Hidalgo." This 

 bird therefore is resident on the Lower Ixio Grande about ten months in 

 the year. The remaining two months it is probably' in the more central 

 l^arts of our continent, wandering in flocks from jflace to place in search 

 of food. 



On April — the day after my arrival at Lomita — I went to Hidalgo 

 to make arrangements about mail, supplies, &c. About a mile above 

 the village, on familiar collecting-ground of the season before, I discov- 

 ered a Ked-billed Pigeon on her nest in a thicket, and about eight feet 

 from the ground. It was not until I had api)roached to within arm's 

 length that she rose, and, tumbling heavily into the bushes, fluttered 

 away over the ground iu capital feint of injury, in order to attract 

 attention away from the nest The nest was made of twigs, was frail, 

 saucer-shaped, and contained a single nearly fledged young. This bird 

 breeds irregularly and lays several times in a season. I found nests 



