120 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMEUIOAN BIRDS. 



cry which I liave seen, it consists of three syllables, though occasionally a 

 fourth is added. When one bird begins to cry, the nearest bird joins in at the 

 second note, and in this way the fourth syllable is made; but tliey keep such 

 good time that it is often very diificult to satisfy oneself that this is the fact. 

 I cannot say certainly whether the female utters this cry as well as the male, 

 but there is a well-marked anatomical distinction in the sexes in regard to the 

 development of the trachea. In the male this passes down the outside of the 

 pectoral muscles, beneath the skin, to within about 1 inch of the end of the 

 sternum; it then doubles on itself and passes up, still on the right of the keel, 

 t(i descend within the thorax in the usual manner. This duplicature is wanting 

 in the female. These birds are much hunted for tlie Brownsville market, 

 though their flesh is not particularly good, and the body very small for the 

 apparent size of the bird. Easily domesticated, they become troublesomely 

 familiar, and decided nuisances when kept about the house. Beyond Ringgold 

 Barracks this species is said to become rare, and soon to disappear; and it 

 probably does not pass more than 50 miles to the north of the Rio Grande. 

 The nests are shallow structures, often made entirely of Spanisli moss, and are 

 placed on horizontal limbs a few feet from the ground."^ 



Mr. George B. Sennett, in his "Further Notes on the Ornithology of the 

 Lower Rio Grande of Texas," made during tlie spring of 1878, makes the fol- 

 lowing statement about this species: "Preeminently a bird of the woods; and 

 Lomita, without doubt, is tlie heart of its very limited habitat in the United 

 States. Here it is resident; and among the heavy timber and dense under- 

 growth it breeds in seclusion, secure from its enemies. A more intimate 

 acquaintance with this bird enables me to give a better description of its notes 

 than the attempt in my former memoir. The notes are loud, and uttered in 

 very rapid succession, and those of the female follow those of the male so 

 closely, while so well do they harmonize, although in different keys, that I mis- 

 took the first note of one for the last note of the other. It really utters but 

 three syllables, thus: 'cha-cha-lac,' instead of four, ' cha-cha-lac-ca,' as given 

 before. It also has a hoarse grating call or alarm note, uttered in one continii- 

 ous strain and without modulation, something like ' kak-kak-kak.' Generally 

 this bird is seen in trees, but on one occasion four or five were seen running 

 about on the ground, after the manner of chickens Avhen freed from a coop. It 

 does not breed in communities, but in isolated j)airs, and from all accounts 

 raises but one brood in a season, unless the nest is despoiled, when it will lay 

 another clutch. The clutch almost invariably consists of three, rarely less. On 

 tlie 10th of April, we obtained fresh eggs, and on the 20th sets were generally 

 full and fresh, after which time they contained embryos. The eggs were exceed- 

 ingly hard to drill. The chicks are hatched well coated with down, and they 

 leave the nest as soon as hatched, the old ones leading them into the thickets, 

 where they are very hard to capture. I had tlie pleasure, at the ranch, of 

 seeing six hatch under a hen. The little ones looked and acted exactly like 



' Proceeiliugs U. S. National Museum, Vol. i, 1878, p. 159. 



