THE OHAOHALACA. 121 



chickens, picking up the corn-batter thrown to them, running in and out from 

 under the hen's wings, and jumping upon her back. Four of the six died 

 within the first two weeks, but the others lived and thrived. A few are domes- 

 ticated every year at almost every ranch, and they become inconveniently 

 familiar, getting about under foot, jumping upon tables, beds, etc. 



"The young from the eggs are thickly covered with down. Upper parts 

 mixed ash, fulvous, and brown, with a black line from the crown to the tail 

 and a black patch on the forehead; under parts white, with the exception 

 of the jugulum, which is fulvous ash, meeting the same colors above. When 

 three or four weeks old, the fulvous ash and white become tawny, and the 

 black only shows on the crown and the forehead." 1 



The breeding season begins about April 10, and lasts till the beginning 

 of July. Mr. J. A. Singley writes me that he took eggs on June 2 — prob- 

 ably a second laying, the first eggs having been taken or destroyed. He 

 says: "I found this bird abundant on the Lower Rio Grande. It is a noisy 

 fellow, and two or three can make noise enough to make the listener think 

 that there are a dozen or more birds at hand. Noisy as they are, it is a 

 hard matter to get sight of one, and I found the most successful plan was 

 to hide in the thicket and wait for the birds to put in an appearance. No 

 matter how quickly and stealthily you approached one when singing (?), he 

 would notice you and quickly take his departure. I never saw one on the 

 ground. They are noisiest in the morning and just before a rain. 



"All the nests I found were in mesquite stubs, where the limbs had 

 been cut off to make brush fences. These limbs are never cut close to the 

 tree, and being close together form a cavity; leaves and twigs will fall in 

 this and accumulate, and the bird occupies it as a nesting site. I did not 

 find a nest that I could say was built by the bird. When the nest is 

 approached the bird quietly flies off, rarely remaining in sight, and soon 

 calls up its mate." 



According to most observers, three eggs are said to usually constitute a 

 full set, rarely more. Mr. Thomas H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pennsyl- 

 vania, informs me, however, that of forty -four sets received by him this season 

 (1890), all but one contained four eggs, the other beiug a set of three. The 

 first of these sets was found May 13, the second May 29, and the balance 

 between that date and July 1. In 1889, he received a single set of five, 

 which must be considered an unusually large one. These eggs were all col- 

 lected near Rio Grande City, Texas. 



The eggs of the Chachalaca are a pale creamy white in color, varying 

 in shape from ovate to short ovate, as well as elongate ovate. The shell is 

 extremely thick, rough to the touch, and strongly granulated. The average 

 measurement of twenty-five specimens in the U. S. National Museum collection 

 is 58.5 by 41.5 millimetres. The largest egg measures 65.5 by 47, the smallest 

 53.5 by 40 millimetres. 



1 U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey, Vol. v, No. 3, pp. 426, 427. 



