mud is thrown in, as if to weight it down. Just how far north of the Rio Grande 

 this species reaches, I cannot tell. On the northern end of Padre Island, at Corpus 

 Christi Pass, I saw them in abundance, and about Corpus Christi also. The first 

 eggs were found April 25. In shape they are very oblong, rounded at one end and 

 pointed at the other, with the greatest diameter much nearer one end. The ground- 

 color is usually of a greenish- white, clouded with purplish-brown from the small end as 

 far as the centre, and sometimes over the whole egg. The markings are of a very dark 

 brown, chiefly at the small end, and consist of pencillings, drops, and splashes irre-. 

 gularly and grotesquely put on." 



This bird inhabits eastern Mexico, north to southern Texas, south to Nicaragua. 



DESCRIPTION: Adult male, deep black, with metallic violet gloss. Female, above dusky brown, with 

 greenish gloss, less glossy and more brown on head and neck. 



Male, 17.00 to 18.00 inches long; wing, 7.59; tail, 8.80. Female, 12.50 inches; wing, 4.94; 

 tail, 5.98. 



BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE, 



Quiscalus major Vieillot. 



WHILE roaming about in the low, marshy prairie districts of south-eastern 

 Texas, no birds attracted my attention more than the large number of 

 water-birds. Pelicans and Anhingas were met with everywhere. The Florida Gallinule 

 (Gallinula aculeata) I found most common in such swamps where the fragrant 

 water-lily and the beautiful yellow water chinquepin^ sedges, and reed grass grew 

 luxuriantly. In the shallow w^ater of the prairie ponds I often observed the beautiful 

 Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaja ajaja) among the large numbers of Snowy Herons {Ardea 

 candidissima) and Little Blue Herons (A. cserulea). Early in the morning they leave 

 their roosts in the dense forests and towards evening they return. In order to become 

 acquainted w^ith the different Herons and their breeding habits, it is necessary to visit 

 the deep swampy woods. At first we pass places overgrown with immense oaks, 

 elms, sweet gum, pecan trees, and magnolias. Hollies, laurel cherry, and American 

 olive trees form the underwood. Many of the smaller trees are covered from the 

 ground to the top with grape-vines, smilax, and bignonias or cross-vine^. More in the 

 interior we find larger and smaller ponds, densely overgrown with button bushes". 

 Surrounded by a dense forest of large trees, far away from the abodes of man, almost 

 continually in a quiet semi-darkness, these ponds are the very paradise for many 

 water-birds. On our way through the dense forest we start a family of w^ild Turkeys. 

 Quick as thought they disperse and none can be found. If we remain perfectly quiet, 

 we may hear after a while the persuasive call-notes of the mother. It is very quiet in 

 this part of the forest, although the Spring Creek offers excellent abiding places among 

 the dense hollies, the moss-covered magnolias, and the vine-entangled thickets on its 

 borders. Most of the birds are found on the woodland's edge. We penetrate farther 



1 Neluatbivm Juteuoi, z Bignottia capreolata. ^ Cepbalantbus occidentalis. 



