The jYatiiralids Com pan ion. 78 
upon a reoular raft. ('onstriicting its 
nest of weeds, moss, grass and other 
vegetable matter,often mixed with mud. 
the female floats tranquilly upon the 
surfaee, the sti'ange eraft rising and 
falling with the ripples, or wafted by 
the light breezes that bhnv over its se- 
eluded retreat. '’I’hough probably at 
ilrst anehored to some plant rising 
from below, being often found in that 
])osition, it frequently happens that 
they beeome detaehed and ‘if any in- 
ti uder happen to diseover her, if any¬ 
thing threaten her safety, the wild bird 
plunges one of her feet into the water, 
and makes use of it as a paddle, with 
which she transports her dwelling to a 
distance. 
Another peculiar nest, which is not 
a nest at all, is that of the Patagonian 
penguin, which lives amid the waves, 
rocks and ice of the frigid Antarctic 
zone. Like the marsnpirlia among 
mammals, which conceal their young- 
in a ventral sack, the female penguin 
carries her solitary egg in a pouch 
formed by a fold in the skin of the ab¬ 
domen, and there holds it so flrmly 
that as she leaps, and sometimes falls, 
from 1 ‘ock to rock, the egg remains un¬ 
harmed until hatched. To purloin the 
egg from this singular receptacle it is 
necessary to engage in a regular battle, 
not only with the female but also her 
devoted mate, who, at the first alarm, 
rushes to the spot and flghts so furi¬ 
ously that success for the agressorcan 
only be secured when the noble bird 
sinks dead or totally disabled. 
Wonderful indeed is the instinct 
with which wise Nature has endowed 
lier creatui'es, and to the observing 
mind its develoi)nient is eveiywhere 
present in forms as curious and I'c- 
markable ms tliose just described. 
“Wheresoever the naturalist turns his 
eve, life or the germ of lib' lies sj)i'eMd 
before him.” 
Field Notes on some Birds of Cen¬ 
tral Texas. 
BY CHAS. 1). OBDKIGHT, WACO, TKXAS. 
Waco is in the centre of McLenimn 
county, Texas, on the Brazos river, 
near where the Bosipie river empties 
into it. The northern half of McLen¬ 
nan county is mostly covered with a 
growth of oaks,interspersed with farms, 
while the southern part is mostly farms 
and prairie country; the bottoms of the 
Brazos and Bosque rivers are well 
wooded, and the smaller streams usu¬ 
ally have a fringe of trees on the banks. 
The mesquite tree (Jlcacia glandulosa) 
flourishes in iflaccs where the timber 
has been burnt down, and also on the 
prairies to some extent. Idie cotton¬ 
wood is the most common tree along 
the streams; the others are oak, c-edar, 
hackberry, elm, willow, walnut, pecan, 
etc. I commence my notes with the 
iNlockingbird, (Mimus polyglottus), 
this bird is very common and tame, 
and is found all over the city, building 
its nest in trees by the road-side, in 
3 ’ards, etc. It is seldom found in the 
thick woods, staying around more open 
places such as thickets of bushes, orch¬ 
ards, in the mesquite trees, which nev¬ 
er gi'ow very closely together,in hedges, 
etc. Their habits are all so well known 
that it would be a waste of space to 
describe tliem here. 
Cardinal Grosbeak, [Cardinalis vir- 
gmianus). which is capially common, is 
to be met with in every thicket, and 
its song may be heard from F'el)ruaiT 
until August, ddie only other s[)ecies 
