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October 18. At Saint Louis, Mo., the first large flocks going south were 
noted September 9; from October 5 to 27 Robins were numerous; the 
last flock was seen October 30, and the last transient November 11. At 
Bouham, Tex., the first migrant came in October; the next was seen 
October 28, and they had become common by November. None were 
noted at Gainesville, Tex., until November 11. 
761a. Mervla migratoria propinqua Ridgw. [7a.] Western Robin. 
October 12, 1883, Colonel Goss killed two out of a flock of seven at 
Wallace, Kans.; and Mr. Lloyd found a single flock in winter at San 
Angelo, in southwestern Texas. Mr. Lloyd says they are abundant in 
winter west of Tom Green County in Texas. 
766. Sialia sialis (Linn.). [22.] Bluebird. 
The Bluebird breeds from the Gulf of Mexico northward to southern 
Manitoba. It is another familiar bird whose coming each spring is 
eagerly looked for, and whose movements are closely watched through 
the summer. Over the southern part of the United States his admirers 
are denied the pleasure of looking for his arrival, for he remains through- 
out the year. Hardy by nature, and capable of adapting himself to the 
food of the season, he remains at his post winter and summer. Orni- 
thologists claim that these winter birds are not the same individuals 
which are seen in summer, but that the summer birds have moved south- 
ward and their places have been supplied by arrivals from the north. 
This of course is generally true, and yet it is also a fact that from lati- 
tude 37° southward there are occasionally Bluebirds which keep their 
summer stations all through the winter, and it is not safe te say that 
none do so even up to latitude 39°. While its winter distribution is 
quite similar to the Robin’s, and governed likewise by the food supply 
rather than the temperature, yet the average winter range of the Blue- 
bird is a little more to the north, and it is as plentiful at latitude 39° as 
the Robin is at latitude 37°, Mr. Widmann contributed the following 
note from Saint Louis, Mo.: 
In rough weather they spend much of the time in their holes, that is, Woodpeckers" 
holes, which they enlarge for their own use as shelters and roosting places. Novem- 
ber 30 (1883) I watched a pair, when the female repeatedly entered the hole, brought 
out each time a bit of dead wood and reached it to the male, who carried it off a few 
yards and dropped it. 
It is fair to conclude that this pair intended to pass the winter at that 
locality. Toward the western part of the Mississippi district the species 
is not common, giving place to the Rocky Mountain Bluebird (Sialia 
arctica). It is not abundant much west of longitude 97°. Immense 
numbers were reported in winter from southwestern Texas; and these 
must migrate largely to the northeast. Mr. Lloyd says the species is 
resident in portions of Concho County, Tex. 
Throughout the winter of 1883-84 Bluebirds remained at suitable 
places between latitude 37° and latitude 39°, but were driven from less 
favorable localities by the severe weather of January 1. They returned 
