May, 1910 MISCELLANEOUS BIRD NOTES FROM THE LOWER RIO GRANDE 
101 
disturbed, on account of considerable flights taken at short intervals. Tho often 
found feeding upon the ground, they are much less terrestrial in habit than the 
Cardinal. Mesquite beans form a favored food during a portion of the year. A 
bird with a beak resembling Pyrrhuloxia, tho copied on a miniature scale, is the 
Morelett Seedeater ( Sporophiia moreletti) . I have had much pleasure and some 
disappointment in the study of this species, for at present it does not seem to be 
as generally distributed in the Valley, as in former years. I found no individuals 
until the early days of spring — about March 26, when a few arrived. Their distri- 
bution here is sporadic and I discovered several locations which they resorted to 
generally, while the intervening sections -were entirely avoided. In the spots they 
favor a small bush grows which produces a small round fruit with a seed in the 
center that bears considerable resemblance to flax. This seed the Seedeater is ex- 
tremely fond of, and in a dozen or more stomachs examined hardly anything else 
was found. The Seedeater as a rule, keeps in small flocks up to the nesting season, 
which is indefinite, and must cover at least three months. I have not succeeded in 
finding a single specimen of the male bird with any considerable quantity of black 
in the plumage, within the State, tho a number of the males secured, were sexually 
fully developed. Sporophiia deserves systematic study for, as Dr. C. W. Rich- 
mond states, in a letter recently received, — “they (Texas and Tamaulipas ex- 
amples) are now supposed to represent a form different from those (.S', moreletti ) 
of Central America and southern Mexico, in not having the black back and black 
pectoral collar; but exist in a plumage not to be distinguisht from the immature 
plumage of the southern form.” 
The finches are so extensively represented here, that it will not be practical to 
dwell upon additional species; but better to pass to a brief review of the warblers 
that occur almost entirely as migrants. Several species, however, do breed, and of 
these we choose to speak of the Sennett Warbler ( Compsothlypis pitiayumi nigrilora) 
which appears early in March, when its cheery song helps to add to the already 
considerable volume of vernal music. Even with the assistance of the oft repeated 
notes as a clue, the Sennett Warbler is difficult to discover, for like nearly all of 
the family it is very active, keeping to the highest parts of trees, and playing a hide 
and seek game among the hanging moss ( Ramalina) that drapes most of the arbor- 
escent growdh. Therefore, it usually involves tiring use of one’s neck muscles to 
locate any. Directly after appearing here, they commence building the nest which 
is tucked within the strands of moss. At as early a date as March 15 I have ob- 
served them at thew r ork. The completion of the nest is coincident with a decline 
in the song which soon after practically ceases, making the apprehension of the 
bird’s presence more difficult than ever. 
Some of the warbler tribe winter with us, as the Audubon Warbler ( Dendroica 
auduboni) , Myrtle Warbler ( D . coronata ), and Nashville Warbler, and probably the 
Black and White ( Mniotilta varia), which abounds in the earliest days in March. 
The two first named species winter by thousands, the mesquite at that time always 
swarming with them; while the Nashville Warbler, in somewhat limited numbers, 
resorts to the scraggy undergrowth composed of Ebony and Acacia. April is the 
month here, for warbler variety. May, however, furnisht several interesting records 
this year such as Bay-breasted Warbler ( Dendroica castanea ), a species that seems 
to have been overlookt by previous observers in the Valley. It appeared on May 
7 in company with the Blackburnian (d? .biackburnice) , Magnolia, Wilson! Wiisonia 
pHsilla), and Canadian (IE. canadensis ) Warblers. The Blackburnian Warbler 
first arrived on May 4, seemingly a very late date in view of the fact that its ap- 
pearance has been noted in the Great Lakes region, at an earlier date (May 2). 
