Nehrling on Birds of Southeastern Texas. 
1 66 
LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED AT HOUSTON, HARRIS 
CO., TEXAS, AND IN THE COUNTIES MONT- 
GOMERY, GALVESTON AND FORD BEND. 
BY H. NEHRLING. 
(' Continued from p. ij.) 
87. Molothrus ater Gray. Cowbird. — Very abundant throughout 
the year. They come in large flocks into the streets of the city in the 
winter months to search for food; they also associate at that season with 
Scolecophagus cyanocephalus Cab. I have never seen anywhere else such 
numbers of these birds as here, and in the breeding season most of the 
nests of our small birds contain eggs of this parasite. 
87 a. Molothrus ater obscurus Coues. Dwarf Cowbird. — A com- 
mon bird during the breeding season. It is smaller than its near relative, 
and quicker in its motions. Moves usually in flocks of from two to ten. 
I first observed the bird when it was just leaving the nest of Lanivireo 
flavifrons Bd., and found its egg in it, besides four of the Vireo’s. The 
egg is smaller and not so thickly sprinkled as that of the common 
Cowbird. 
88. Xanthocephalus icterocephalus Bd. Yellow-headed Black- 
bird. — Very common in marshy localities from the latter part of October 
to March and April. I think some remain to breed, as I observed small 
flocks during May in the low prairie districts overgrown with reeds and 
other water plants. The best opportunity I ever had to study the breeding 
habits of this beautiful but very locally distributed Blackbird was in the 
Calumet Marshes near Kensington, about eighteen miles south of Chicago, 
where I discovered in a single day about fifty nests among the reeds. Dur- 
ing the winter months they associate with Molothrus ater , Agelceus phoe- 
niceus , and Scolecophagus cyanocephalus ; many migrate further south, and 
in cold winters only a few remain near Houston. 
89. Agelaeus phceniceus Vieill. Red-winged Blackbird. — Com- 
mon in swamps, but not so abundant as I have found these birds to be in 
Wisconsin and Illinois. May 6, 1881, I discovered a nest in a somewhat 
strange position, in a blackberry-bush ( Rub us villosus) on the edge of 
a thicket; there was no swamp within a mile. This was in the northern 
part of Harris County. Only a few remain to winter, the greater part 
migrating farther south. 
90. Sturnella magna Swains. Meadow Lark. — Common summer 
sojourner, and very abundant during winter; many thousands are killed in 
the latter season by pot-hunters. During summer the Meadow Lark is 
strictly a prairie bird, always to be looked for on the open grassy savannas ; 
