TEX^S KATUES OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 121 



by river bottom, is a veritable lit- 

 tle bird paradise in springtime 

 and the summer months, where 

 the year round numbers of prai- 

 rie- birds, the brilliant red cardi- 

 nal, the Texas nightingale, or 

 mockingbird, the \Yhip-poorTwill, 

 the scissor-tail bird, quail, doves, 

 robins, vircos. the field lark, the 

 interesting bullbat bird, brilliant 

 woodpeckers, the restless and 

 beautiful cactus wren, prairie 

 sparrows, and others too numer- 



surrounding our camp, as well as 

 the ground nearby, were literally 

 covered with mocking birds and 

 mumbers of red birds. It may be 

 similar to the migration of the 

 bullbat birds, witnessed last year 

 near that place on a large open 

 Johnson grass field, that those 

 songsters had congregated there 

 for a jfinal migrnition to other 

 climes, as bitter cold winter days 

 set in shortly afterwards. 



It is also here, in a hilly and 



Typical Nest of the Texas Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Bird (Eggsucker) 

 With Five Eggs; Nest-Bed Pilled With Mssquite Leaves 



ous to mention are encountered 

 here and enliven the prairie 

 plains in summer time with their 

 melodious .songs, whilst the lake 

 harbors numbers of chattering 

 waterfowls in Avinter time, and is 

 stocked, I am told, with lots of 

 fine fish the year round. 



Never before had I witnesed 

 such a large amount of mocking 

 birds and red bird- as during an 

 outing duriig a cold day la-t fall 

 east of Ca.ssin's lake; the hack- 

 berry trees and mesquite brush 



considerably rocky and brushy re- 

 gion, that we came across an in- 

 teresting small nest, last May, 

 with four marble-round, jet-black 

 speckled and snow-white eggs of 

 a small prairie sparrow, snugly 

 hidden directly on the ground un- 

 der the shade of a small wild 

 acacia brush. The round nest, 

 photo reproduced on the spot and 

 seen herein, was about the size 

 of a child's hand, and it. seemed 

 as if the bird had first scratched 

 the ground up before building 



