THE 



Bay State Oologist. 



VOL. 



PITTSFIELD, MASS., JAN. 1888. 



NO. 1. 



Notes on Some Birds of Texas. 



BY J. A. SINGLEY, ESQ. 



It is my intention to give in the fol- 

 lowing notes a full description of the 

 nesting habits, nests and eggs of the 

 birds of this portion ot Southern Texas. 

 Notes will also be given on their most 

 prominent traits, habitant or station 

 where they most love to congregate, etc. 



The observations on which these ar- 

 ticles are based cover eight years of 

 professional collecting, and can be de- 

 pended upon as being accurate. Ridg- 

 way's "Nomenclature of N. A. Birds" 

 will be adhered to in giving the names and 

 numbers of the species \ very few col- 

 lectors being as yet familiar with the 

 new "A. O.U. Nomenclature." Meas- 

 urements of eggs, etc., will be given in 

 inches and hundredths of an inch. In 

 giving dimensions of eggs, the average 

 of ten eggs will be given. 



A few words as to the nature of the 

 country in which I operate will not be 

 amiss. The elevation is about 600 feet 

 above the sea level. The country can 

 be divided into " Post-oak Uplands" 

 (the elevated lands covered with a 

 mixed growth, mostly post-oak) and 

 "Bottoms" (the lowlands along our sev- 

 eral streams, covered mainly with pin- 

 oak, pecan and other tall timber, and in 

 many places with an impenetrable 

 jungle of yaupon, red hawthorne, wild 

 peach and other small growth j this 

 same undergrowth being found, more 



or less, in all the bottoms) and last, 

 though not least, San Antonia prairie, 

 running through the county from east 

 to west and from one- half to two miles 

 in width. This prairie is dotted with 

 small groves of timber (post-oak, per- 

 simmon and hack berry) as well as de- 

 tached trees scattered over it making an 

 excellent collecting ground. With this 

 explanation, I'll present a little of the 

 domestic life of that pride of the South. 

 No. 11, Mockingbird 

 (Mimus polyglottus.) 



This prince among the feathered 

 songsters is very commonly dressed ; 

 upper parts ashy gray; lower parts 

 soiled white. The wings are dark with 

 a large white space on the primaries, 

 length, about 10 inches; extent about 

 14 inches. During the winter, the 

 "Mocker" will be found mostly in the 

 "Bottoms," where they feed on the vari- 

 ous berries found there. A few remain 

 in their summer quarters. A red cedar 

 tree in my yard is the bedroom of one 

 jaunty fellow, he roosting with the chick- 

 ens. The "Mocker" is rather an over- 

 bearing kind of a fellow. I have never 

 seen him attack other birds ;but he takes 

 especial delight in alighting on a limb 

 where some bird of another species may 

 be resting, and crowding up to it (ex- 

 actly as a "bull)" among the genus 

 "Homo" may often be seen to do) he 

 will make it take to flight, when he fol- 

 lows after, until the other bird leaves in 

 disgust. 



During the winter "Mimus" warbles 

 only his own ditty (not an elaborate 



