Sept., 1916 
MEETING SPRING HALF WAY 
189 
was spent in trapping, skinning, and writing up notes among the bird colony 
of the oak mott. Its rarest member, Pyrocephalus, the exquisite little scarlet- 
breasted Flycatcher sang a rapturous flight song suggestive of that of the 
Cassin Sparrow. When in midair he would puff out the feathers of his breast 
till he might have been a full blown red rose, and then float down through the 
air to the flowery fields below. The Jackdaws, prominent members of the 
mott colony, amused us by their buffoonry, their attitudinizing, their crack- 
ling, brush-breaking noises and their falsetto squeals while their mates calmly 
gathered nesting material. Golden-fronted and Texas Woodpeckers called as 
they passed back and forth through the trees, the Golden-fronted with a loud 
penetrating rattle. Vireos hunted about, and passing Warblers, among them the 
Black and White Creeper, chipped in the tree tops. A belated Chestnut-sided 
was seen in another oak mott later in the day. A Mockingbird was building in 
an oak and we found a Lark Sparrow’s nest sunk in the ground at the foot of a 
bush containing four eggs. On the live oaks were found clumps of a stout air 
plant related to the Spanish moss with beautiful purple fusehia-like flowers 
that proved to be a new species, and it was carefully photographed, as was also 
a solid acre of pink phlox, though, alas, we could not reproduce the colors ! 
When we again took to the road and Barn Swallows with their dark backs 
and deep chestnut breasts circled around us, by contrast we realized anew 
how keen and bright were the tones of the prairie flowers. As we drove on a 
Caracara with its proud, erec + ^bearing, waited in a low tree ahead of us till 
we could distinguish its black crest, and as it flew off its white wing tips were 
conspicuous. A partly eaten snake and the Mexican emblem seemed well cor- 
related. Very few birds were seen along the road on these last days of April, 
and those mostly summer residents, a few Mourning Doves and Horned Larks, 
a flock of Cowbirds around a herd of cattle, and once a Nighthawk sitting with 
furled sails on a ‘chip’ on the prairie. Resident bird life centered in the 
motts, where Wood Pewees, Lark Sparrows, Quail, Clay-colored Sparrows, 
Blue Grosbeaks, Curve-billed Thrashers, and Mockingbirds were seen, a 
Mocker in one place feeding half grown young. Mockingbirds were so abund- 
ant that the old Texan remarked comprehensively, “Wherever yon find a bush 
you’ll find a Mocker, without an accident, from Corpus here.” 
The largest mott, which was seen on the twenty-ninth, offered such gen- 
erous shade that cattle had bared the ground under its oak roof. Jackdaws 
were making a gi'eat commotion here and Orioles and Black and White Creep- 
ers increased our wish that we might camp and investigate. 
A north wind gave us a beautiful sight, a flock of perhaps forty White 
Pelicans maneuvering in the sky, flying in a wedge or a straight line, for, as 
we were told, a north wind makes them fly north because it piles the water so 
high down the gulf that they cannot get their fish. The events of the hour 
were a number of large Hawks, the Harris, Sennett, and Swainson, some of 
them perching on telegraph poles, as if appreciating the rare possibility, beau- 
tiful, smooth sand dunes, and our old friends the mesquite and cactus, together 
with ponds enlivened by Redwings and waders, and encircled by brilliant yel- 
low Coreopsis rings. These yellow rings around pools were so numerous that 
they demonstrated the aquatic taste of the flowers. 
Sauz Ranch, the next spot on the map, proved not only a white man’s 
ranch and stage station but a Mexican village of picturesque hackells made of 
branches and thatched with grass, inhabited by Mexicans who rode around 
