334 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 



liees, White-throated and White-crowned . Sparrows, and other winter-sojoumers. In 

 rocky places mountain cedars (Juaiperus occidentalis) form dense and often very extensive 

 thickets. It is here where the rare Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo 

 find their true home. The farm-houses are not situated on straight-lined roads, being 

 promiscuously scattered over the prairies and woodlands, usually in places where the 

 soil Is particularly well fitted for tillage. Peach orchards are common near farm-houses. 

 A few fig and pear trees and pomegranate bushes close the list of fruits. The China tree or 

 "pride of India" is the most common shade tree. The mulbeny, the honey-locust, armed 

 on trunk and branches with terrible spines, and the paper mulberry are also planted 

 for shade. Roses, the climbing Noisettes as ■well as the deliciously scented tea rose^, and 

 less often the hybrid perpetuals or June roses, are the most common ornamental shrubs. 

 In some gardens we may find a few^ dense mountain cedars, several species of arborescent 

 yuccas and cacti, a few Cape jasmines, crape myrtles {hagerstroetnia Indica), pittos- 

 porums, and privets. 



In no part of our country have I found bird-life more abundant and beautiful than 

 in Texas, and especially in the locality alluded to in the foregoing. In winter the thickets 

 of the woodlands, the w^eeds and grass in the fields, and even the larger gardens sw^arm 

 with northern birds, who find here a congenial winter home. Nowhere have I found so 

 ► many interesting migrants, and nowhere the woodlands and gardens were so replete 

 with songbirds. From January to July the loud and melodious wee-do, wee-do of the 

 Cardinal is almost constaiitly heard. The far-famed Mockingbird, the "king of song," 

 chants its inimitable notes day and night in the heyday of spring. The elegant 

 Blue Grosbeak, the richly colored Painted Bunting, the cheerful Orchard Oriole, the 

 amiable Bluebird, the playful and brave Martin, the ever active and gay Carolina and 

 Bewick's Wren, the noisy Tufted Titmouse, the vocal Lark Sparrow are the chief per^ 

 formers in the spring concert of garden-loving species. The Kingbird, usually seen in 

 some topmost bough of its favorite tree, the honey-locust, is acting as a guardian and 

 sentinel. Woe to every robber who dares to enter its domain! Wherever the country 

 house is surrounded by large oaks, we are sure to find also the Crested Flycatcher and 

 Wood Pewee, the Brown-headed Nuthatch and quite a number of Woodpeckers. 



The most interesting and conspicuous bird, however, the most graceful and attract- 

 ive of all, is the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, an abundant summer sojourner in all parts 

 of Texas, being particularly common in the region described. I found it eveiywhei'e 

 abundant from Houston to New Braunfels and San Antonio, its favorite haunts being 

 the mesquit prairies, live-oak bosquets, cultivated lands in the post-oak woods and even 

 door-yards and peach orchards. It is a glorious bird of singular beauty. The deep 

 impression this Flycatcher made on the mind of the rather rough and weather-beaten 

 early settlers is signified by the names which they have bestowed upon it. They called 

 it the "Texan Bird of Paradise," or simply the "Bird of Paradise," and sometimes we 

 hear appellations like "Paradise Flycatcher," "Paradise Bee Martin," and "Paradise 

 Forktail." All these names were given to it in consequence of its great beauty and graceful 

 flight. And, indeed, it is one of the most characteristic and beautiful birds of Texas, 

 many bird-lovers even asserting that it is not rivalled by any other North American 

 bird in beauty, grace, and elegance, Jt js itjE^de especially conspicuous by its long, forked 



