THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
49 
species were obtained in 1877, little or 
nothing* was seen of its breeding* hab¬ 
its. One of the great inducements to 
repeat the trip to the Rio Grande was 
to further our knowledge of this pretty 
warbler. From the time of my arrival 
at its habitat, early in April, nearly 
every day specimens were obtained and 
examined, to ascertain the condition 
of the ovaries, with the view of finding 
nests and eggs. How well I remember 
my anxiety, about the middle of May, 
when, after a number of week’s stay 
and examination of many birds of this 
species, dissection showed the eggs to 
be only just developing. The weather 
was growing intensely hot, the time 
for our departure was set in the near 
future, and it seemed as if we could 
not obtain an egg of a bird so common, 
before returning home. But on May 
17, while my assistant and I were try¬ 
ing to save some large birds, Pancho, 
our Mexican g*uide, brought me the 
most interesting and peculiar nest I had 
seen in that locality, together with one 
broken egg. belonging to this new war¬ 
bler. He observed the nest while rid¬ 
ing about the timber and chaparral, 
and it was while standing* on his sad¬ 
dle, reaching for it, that his horse 
started and threw the only egg it con¬ 
tained to the ground. Our prospects 
thus looked brighter, and we had hopes 
of finding other nests within a few 
days. Instructions were given to all 
the Mexicans about the ranch to search 
clumps of moss and orchids for them, 
but without avail, and we left the 
country the latter part of May with 
but a single nest and a poor broken egg 
to illustrate the breeding habits of P. 
nigrilora. The date, May 17, of finding 
nest and egg, I judg*e to be unusually 
early. The great majority must breed 
in June, for on July 5, of the season 
before, what I have no doubt were 
young of this bird were found near 
Brownsville by Dr. Merrill, but not 
recognized. None of our Northern 
form, P. arnericana, were observed on 
the trip, and the only form of Pnrula 
breeding on our Southern border is 
'nigrilora. This Warbler must arrive on 
the Rio Grande in March, for in the 
first part of April it was there in full 
force. I confidently expect this bird 
to be found in wooded districts north 
of the Rio Grande and possibly north 
of the Nueces River. That this form 
has not been met with in Mexico by 
the several field ornithologists who 
have visited that section seems strange, 
yet the small size and forest habits of 
the bird would account perhaps for its 
being so long concealed from observa¬ 
tion. 
The nest is exceedingly interesting 
and beautiful. It is made in a gray 
mistletoe-like orchid, an air-plant very 
common on the Rio Grande, which es¬ 
tablishes itself on the small branches 
of trees, and varies in size up to eight 
or ten inches in diameter. This one is 
six inches long by four and a half 
inches wide, quite firm in texture, and 
was fastened some ten feet from the 
ground, to the end of a drooping 
branch of brazil-tree in open woodland. 
The nest is constructed very simply, 
being formed by parting the gray 
leaves of the orchid and digging into 
its centre from the side, a cavity some 
two inches in diameter being made, 
with an opening of one and one-quarter 
inches. The bottom and sides are 
lined pretty well up with short cottony 
wood fibres, forming a fine matting for 
the eggs to rest upon. A firmer and 
more secure nest is seldom seen, al¬ 
though so easily made. I imagine a 
day would complete one, and certainly 
but little time need be wasted in select¬ 
ing a site, for thousands of orchids 
stand out on the partially dead branches 
or on trees* with little foliage. That 
