m'CAULEY on birds of the red river of TEXAS. 673 



flash, the mother jumped forward from her neat, with sharp shrieks 

 and calls for aid, that promptly brought her mate from a neighboring 

 tree to her assistance. The Hawk finding himself sorely mistaken in his 

 calling, remembered pressing engagements elsewhere, and turned to 

 leave, hotly pursued by the parents. Circling over and above him, 

 relieving each other every foot as the Hawk flew on, they pecked 

 his head so sharply that he gave a cry of pain, and took shelter in the 

 nearest available tree. It was such a pretty instance of parental care 

 and love that I determined to spare one bird's nest I would otherwise 

 have taken. 



Shortly after, although there appeared to be no enemy about, nor cause 

 for alarm, after the departure of the Hawk, I was mystified by noticing 

 the mother in the greatest distress, frequently jumping from her nest, all 

 the while scolding and uttering cries that betokened extreme uneasiness 

 and trouble. As this continued, whilst we were standing quietly under 

 a neighboring cottonwood, one of the men was directed to go up and 

 obtain the nest. As he was climbing up, and had gotten almost within 

 reach, a tree-mouse shot by and ran down the tree, safely eluding capture. 

 The nest safely gotten with its contents, all was clear. The rascally little 

 mouse had made himself completely at home. Burrowing in the bufifalo- 

 wool, he had as warm and cosy a retreat as mouse ever dreamt of or 

 wished for. When hungry, he quietly reached up, and his meal was ready 

 and warm. It was purely a case of a " free lunch " in nature. He had 

 eaten all the eggs but two, his retreat being full of fine pieces of egg- 

 shells. Of those -remaining, he had sucked out nearly all the contents 

 of one, and upon the other he had also begun ; a hole had been gnawed 

 in the side of it, and the embryo, which had been well advanced, was 

 lifeless. 



The nests obtained were built well up in the cottonwoods generally. 

 The prettiest brought with me was on the outside 5 by 4.5 inches ; 

 the interior diameter was 3.5 by 3.25 inches, almost circular, and 

 two inches deep, always deeper than those of T. carolinensis. Using 

 large quantities of the fibrous, coarse cotton of the tree, they had mat- 

 ted this well for fully an inch about the limbs ; through which, well in- 

 terwoven, ran bits of sagebrush, coarse grasses, and fine twigs, with a 

 few dried leaves. Above this part came finer grasses and small fibrous 



