Art. XXI.-Further Notes on the Ornithology of the Lower Rio Grande of Texas, from Observations made during the Spring of 1878.*

By George B. Sennett.

Edited, with Annotations, by Dr. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

MEADVILI E, PA., May 30, 1879.

SIR: I herewith present the notes of my observations and collections in Texas in the spring of 1878. Three months covered the time from my departure from Erie, Pa., to my return in June; but two months, only, were spent in the field, the remainder of the time being taken up in travelling and necessary delays attending it.

Ten days at Corpus Christi, cruising about the bay and its adjacent waters, gave me a better knowledge of the water-birds than I had before acquired. The objective point, Lomita Ranch, situated on the Rio Grande, seven miles above Hidalgo, and sixty-five miles from Brownsville, was reached April 8, and was the locality chosen for field-work.

Nothing occurred to stay the fulfilment of my plans, excepting an accident, in shape of the entering of a poisonous thorn into my knee, which laid me up for three weeks in the middle of the breeding season. Although suffering intense pain, I was able to be bolstered up, so as to study and prepare specimens, and direct the work of my assistant, whom I was obliged to depend upon, and who proved very efficient. Notwithstanding this drawback, we prepared over five hundred birds, including a large majority of the 168 species observed (five of which are new to our fauna); some fourteen hundred eggs, nearly all rare, and some entirely new; a few mammals and reptiles; quite a collection of Lepidoptera, many of which are interesting; a few fishes; and various kinds of insects that came within our reach. The Lepidoptera were sent to Mr. J. A. Lintner, who is now preparing a paper on my collections of both trips.

Of the birds, nearly every family of the North American Ornis is represented on our southern border. It is remarkable, however, that, on both trips, no Nuthatches and only one species of the Crow family (Rio Grande Jay) were observed. At Ringgold Barracks, or Rio Grande City, only thirty-five miles above Lomita, Crows are said to be common, but what is told of their boldness makes it seem more probable that they are Ravens.

My grateful acknowledgements are due to my assistant, Mr. J. N. Sanford, of Grant

*[For "Notes on the Ornithology of the Lower Rio Grande of Texas, from Observations made during the Season of 1877," see this Bulletin, vol. iv, No. 1, pp. 1-66, February 5, 1878.

The present article continues the subject, giving in full the results of Mr. Sennett's important observations and collections made during his second season in Texas. The species of this paper new to the United States fauna were first announced in The Country of July 13, 1878, p. 184.

Some early notes, more especially relating to oölogy, have appeared in Science News, vol. i, No. 4, Dec. 15, 1878, pp. 57-59; No. 7, Feb. 1, 1879, pp. 106, 107; No. 8, Feb. 15, 1879, pp. 120, 121; No. 9, March 1, 1879, pp. 132-134; No 10, March 15, 1879, pp. 151153.

-E. C.]

Co., Minn.; to Mr. J. B. Bourbois, the proprietor of Lomita Ranch, for hospitalities and valuable assistance; to the Hon. Geo. W. McCrary, Secretary of War, and the commanding officers at Fort Brown and Camps Santa Maria and Edinburgh, for assistance in transportation from Fort Brown to Lomita; to Mr. C. P. Patterson, Chief of the Coast Survey, and his assistant, Capt. R. E. Halter, stationed on Padre Island, for favors extended; to Dr. James C. Merrill, Asst. Surg. U. S. A., Fort Brown, for cheerful coöperation; and to you, Sir, for identifying my birds and editing these notes. Very truly, yours,

Dr. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A.,

GEO. B. SENNETT.

Secretary U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey, Washington, D. C.

TURDIDE.

1. MIMUS POLYGLOTTUS (L.) Boie.—Mockingbird.

Less abundant in the densely wooded and sparsely populated country about Lomita Ranch than about the towns lower down the river, but still common. Found one nest almost wholly within a half-decayed limb, and with but a very few twigs and grasses on the open side.

2. MIMUS CAROLINENSIS (L.) Gray.-Catbird.

On May 8 I shot a male of this species at Lomita, and about the same time saw a few others. These were the only ones seen on both trips, and they must be rare summer residents, as none of the natives had noticed the bird before I showed them this one. I found no eggs.

3. HARPORHYNCHUS RUFUS LONGIROSTRIS (Lafr.) Coues.-Long-billed Thrasher.

This Thrush, also called Texas Thrasher, I found much more abundant at Lomita than on my former trip, owing to my being further up the river, in more wooded districts; the tangled thickets about large scattered trees being preferred by it to the chaparral. The bird is resident throughout the whole Lower Rio Grande country, and very abundant. I saw it quite frequently at Corpus Christi in the latter part of March. As regards its habits, I can add little to my notes of last year. Of a very large series of eggs taken on this trip, I found that four were usually laid in the first clutch in April, while second clutches, late in May, contained generally three. It is more wary about habitations than the Curve-billed Thrush, and builds its nest in more secluded places and nearer the ground. It feeds upon the como and other berries, as well

*In these lists of specimens the first number is that of the specimen. The sign for sex follows. Locality and date come next. The next four numbers indicate respectively the length, extent of wings, length of wing, and length of tail. Other measurements are preceded by the name of the part.

as insects and larvæ. During its mating season it sings as well as our Brown Thrush. Results of last trip, seven birds and forty-five sets of eggs.

4. HARPORHYNCHUS CURVIROSTRIS (Sw.) Cab.—Curve-billed Thrush. This Thrush, by some called the "Gray Curve-billed," reaches into our southern border from Mexico. Its nearest relative, Palmer's Thrush (var. palmeri), and other curve-billed forms of the genus, are found in the higher altitudes of New Mexico and Arizona. The northern limit of this Thrush is not fully determined, but it can be considered common in Southern Texas, and most common between Fort Brown and Ringgold Barracks, along the river. Here great alluvial deposits produce berries and insects in abundance for food, and tangled thickets, as well as great prickly-pear cactuses, afford cover and breeding resorts. In 1877, I collected from Hidalgo down to near the mouth of the river. On this trip I collected most of the time at a point several miles above Hidalgo, in the heart of the greatest growth of timber to be found on the river; and it was there that I found the Curve-billed Thrush more numerous than ever before. In point of numbers it nearly equalled the Mockingbird and Long-billed Thrush. The three species comprise all the representatives of the family observed by me during the trip.

The Curve-billed Thrush in color somewhat resembles the Mocking. bird, and in the bushes, where other characteristics are not readily distinguished, may be taken for it at short range. This species, like the Long-billed, is usually more fond of dense cover than the Mockingbird, and while not often found, in the heaviest timber, yet will be found in the thickets common on the edges of such tracts. In open woodland, where clumps of tall thorny bushes and cacti surround the scattered trees, it is always found, and usually in company with the Long-billed Thrush. I did not obtain many fresh-plumaged specimens. By the 1st of April, the plumage becomes faded and worn; and, by the latter part of May, moulting begins. About this time, also, the small black fruit or berry of the como-tree, upon which the bird feeds, ripens, and it becomes almost impossible to shoot and prepare a specimen without the plumage becoming stained with the purple juices which issue from the mouth and vent. I brought home only five birds, but over forty sets of eggs.

In nesting, the habits of this species vary to suit the locality. In districts where chaparral covers the country, there is no respectable growth of timber, but now and then openings, principally occupied by

prickly-pear cactuses and stunted mesquite-trees, and here their nests will be found in cactuses more frequently perhaps than in trees. But at Lomita I found five nests in trees to one in cacti. Though usually suspicious and wary, this bird is wonderfully bold at times in choosing sites for its nest. In my notes of 1877 I mention a nest with four eggs taken from an outhouse, in the centre of a village. At Lomita Ranch, close by a large and much frequented gateway, stands a young ebony-tree, from which, in plain sight, and some twelve feet from the ground, I took a nest and four eggs in April of the following season, and on May 20 I took a nest and three fresh eggs, at a height of fourteen feet, in a large ebony, close by a pathway on the edge of a cornfield. These were the highest nests found, and in both instances the birds were as tame as Robins. Nests are seldom found lower than four feet from the ground. The last nest I examined, just before leaving the ranch, was a very bulky one of this species, which I had seen built in the place where, a number of days before, I had destroyed the nest of a Mockingbird, after its young had departed. It was situated on the lowest branch of a small tree near the house, entirely exposed to view, and, standing upon a chair, I was able to look into it. It was just completed and ready for the eggs, and I did not disturb it. The second nest was much larger than the first, but composed quite similarly of thorny twigs, and lined with a few grasses. This fearlessness is exceptional, but indicates that, were the country thickly settled, this bird might become as domestic as the Mockingbird or Robin. It is resident where found, commences to breed in March on the Rio Grande, and rears several broods in a season. The first is hatched in April, and generally numbers four. By the middle or latter part of May, clutches for the second brood are full, and consist nearly always of three eggs. I have taken, however, a few sets of four from the second laying.

The eggs vary in shape from oblong oval to almost pyriform; the ends are round-pointed, and the greatest diameter nearer one end. The color is pea-green, covered more or less over the entire surface with fine brown dots. Of the large series of eggs taken, only one set was comparatively free from spots. A set of over-sized eggs, taken May 24, average 1.25 by .83. The general average is 1.12 by .79. The shell is not particularly fragile, unless incubation is well advanced, in which case it becomes so tender that it is almost impossible to prepare a fair specimen. The color becomes dull and faded when the egg is long incubated, so that its condition can generally be known without handling.

SYLVIIDE.

5. REGULUS CALENDULA (L.) Licht.-Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

It is difficult to say how abundant this sprightly little bird is on the Rio Grande, for one can get about only a small proportion of a country so densely covered with timber and chaparral. I saw none on the former trip, but this year obtained several at Lomita Ranch. My first was shot from low bushes on April 11. On April 30 I obtained another in heavy timber, and on May 13 I shot another from the lower limbs of a large tree in the heart of the woods.

6. POLIOPTILA CERULEA (L.) Scl.-Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

At Corpus Christi, on the 23d of March, while beating about the open chaparral just outside of the town, we saw large numbers of this species, evidently migrating. Among them were a few Black-throated, Green, and Black-and-white Creeping Warblers. The Gnatcatchers were so abundant that I could have taken fifty had I been so inclined. On the Rio Grande, at Lomita, a bird and a half-finished nest of this species were brought me in May. They were seen occasionally about the open woodland, but I think are not common in such situations.

15 Corpus Christi....

March 23 Wing 2. 10 Tail 2.00

PARIDE.

7. LOPHOPHANES ATROCRISTATUS Cass.-Black-crested Titmouse. This Tit, so far as is known, is found within our limits only in Southern Texas, where it is abundant and resident. The most northern records are San Antonio by Dr. Woodhouse, and Comal County by Mr. W. H. Werner (see Mr. Brewster's paper in April No., 1879, of Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club); the most western is Fort Clark by Dr. Heermann. As no mention is made of it in Mr. Lawrence's papers on "Birds of Western Mexico,” it is probably confined to the Gulf slope of both Mexico and the United States. The only form of the family of Chickadees or Titmice, besides this species, thus far observed in Southern Texas, is the Yellow-headed Titmouse (Auriparus flaviceps). The species L. wollweberi and L. inornatus, so far as our knowledge goes, are confined to the higher altitudes of Arizona and New Mexico. The family seems to be unnoticed by Mexican collectors (with the exception of Mr. Xantus, who records that he found A. flaviceps at Cape Saint Lucas, as I mention in my remarks upon