100 
THE CONDOR 
Vor. XII 
and Snowy Plover (jAEgialitis nivosa) on the 24th, the Red-backt Sandpiper ( Pclidna 
a. sakhalina) and Sharp-shinned Hawk {Acci filter velox) on November 3, the 
ChestnuPcollared Long-spur ( Calcar ins ornatus) , on November 6, the Sprague 
Pipit (Anthus. sfiraguei) , and Nighthawk ( Chorcleiles virginianus) on the 8th; 
while a flock of about fifty Mountain Plover ( Podasocys montana), the only ones 
seen during the entire year, was observed on November 11. 
The Texas Horned Lark ( Otocoris a. giraudi ) is a characteristic bird of the 
coast strip, and very abundant at all seasons of the year around Point Isabel, but 
I have rarely noted it straying more than half a mile inland. Its usual habitat is 
a sandy stretch along the bay, of perhaps five hundred feet breadth. They molt 
in September, and wear the complete new plumage by October 15. No other 
variety of Horned Lark seems to occur here. Many Black-throated Sparrows 
(. Amfiihisfiiza bilineatd) are to be seen within the Lark’s restricted range, dwelling 
contentedly among the Opuntia cactus and marsh-grass. I mention their presence, 
because some doubt appears to exist relative to their actual presence along the 
coast, where really they are more numerous than about Brownsville. The Cactus 
Wren (Heleodytes b. conesi) too, adds its presence to this littoral, and is not a well 
distributed species outside of it. Most Cactus Wrens had the molt unfinisht, even 
at as late a date as December 1 . 
The heavy growth of the marsh-grass near the mouth of the river proves very 
congenial to the Cassin Sparrow, and it is an ever present species, particularly after 
September. My previous acquaintance with this species was in Arizona. In that 
territory they were met with only now and then, when they kept persistently to 
the high grass in arroyo bottoms. Here tho the grass is high, it is in thinly scattered 
bunches, allowing a much easier observation of the bird as it passes from one clump 
to another. Many Grasshopper Sparrows mingle with the species just men- 
tioned, but are equally as numerous up the Valley. All taken thus far proved 
to be C. savannarum bimaculatus . In fall many Savannah Sparrows join in pop- 
ulating these stretches of coast, and of them we have both the eastern (Passerculns s. 
savanna) and western ( P. s. alaudinus) , tho the last named is the prevailing type. I have 
looked in vain for the Texas Seaside $-pa.rrow(Ammodramusm. sennetti) . Mr. Frank 
P. Armstrong informs me that it does occur within our scope however, as he found it 
on two or three grass-covered islets near the mouth of the river. This fall how- 
ever, I am positive none could have existed thereon, as the locality was entirely 
inundated for some weeks. 
No Texas Sparrows ( Arremonops rufivirgata) dwell along the coast — none 
until a point ten miles inland is reacht. The superficial resemblance of this 
species to the Green-tailed Towhee ( Oreospiza chlorura) is particularly noticeable 
where individuals of the Texas Sparrow are found with the dark-brown stripes of 
the crown more or less coalescing with the median olive-yellow stripe. In actions 
too they are much alike. The Texas Sparrow is a quiet bird that passes nearly all 
its time on the ground, within cover of some sort. The click-like call note resem- 
bles that of the Cardinal. 
It is hard to see why the Texas Pyrrhuloxia should be so meagerly represented 
in the Valley inland, when it is so abundant at the coast. Fifty of these birds 
may be observed in a morning walk near the Gulf, while it is no unusual occur- 
rence for two or three days to pass, without seeing one while collecting in the vicin- 
ity of Brownsville. They are naturally a shyer bird than the Gray-tailed Cardinal, 
tho more communistic, going about in small flocks, at least during the winter 
months. The male is the more suspicious; and there seems to be markedly fewer 
of them than the duller-colored females. They are rather hard to follow up when 
