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 May, 1910 MISCELLANEOUS BIRD NOTES I*ROM THE LOWER RIO GRANDE 97 usually holds the nesting s{te, and wherever there is one growing within town, it is pretty sure to be drafted as a Hooded Oriole's domicile. During the period be- tween May and October, they are the most conspicuous, and among the commonest birds of town. To raise eight to twelve young during a season, means hustling for parent birds, and I attribute the scarcity of 'bugs' in our city garden to a pair of these Orioles. A word or two of the other three Orioles that can be listed from here. The Baltimore (Icierus galbula) is strictly a migrant, appearing for a few days only-- this year, on April 24 to 27. The Orchard Oriole ([clerus spurius) arrived ten days earlier, and was very abundant for two weeks; then the majority past on. Examples taken of the Orchard Oriole were in all conditions of plumage; and it is vorthy of note that some extremely small males were secured in adult plumage. These may possibly have been birds that would have nested here. The Bullock Oriole (fclerus bullocki) is rare at Brownsville, tho fairly common at Hidalgo, and from here up the river. If a visitor arrives.in the Rio Grande country during the late fall or winter, or even in early spring, he will find blackbirds the most conspicuous feature of the landscape. In Brownsville he will early notice the Great-tailed Grackle (3[egraquis- calus major macrourus) or Jackdaw, as the populace calls it, in possession of the streets, competing with the somewhat awed, and as yet, not numerous English Sparrow, as scavengers of the roadway. It is a very noisy bird, but with most amusing actions at times. I can recall nothing in bird life appearing more ridicu- lous than a male Grackle str.utting about on a windy day, with his super-abundant length of fail blown to right angles with the body. They do much damage to the agriculturalist, but they also work him a great deal of good. He is similar in habits to the Crow of the north, but possesses considerable more bravery, and shows not the least fear of man. During the breeding season the Grackles are almost entirely absent from the city, but at the date of writing (October 1) have returned in numbers. Just now, several are sharing with us the nuts of a pecan tree grow- ing in our yard. They are able to crack the nuts easily by hammering them against the trunk of the tree. They also love figs, and about country homes take heavy toll. Corn too, falls within their bill of fare. However, I would allow them to go free on this charge, as they balance up accounts by following the plow of the farmer and destroying the many dormant insects then uncovered, that might prove destructive later in the year. We have Grackles by the thousand, but Red-winged Blackbirds by the tens of thousands. This assemblage might be supposed to breed in this section. I have made it a point during the past year to secure'a series of Redwings, which were forwarded to the U.S. National Museum for identification, and all were returned labeled (Agelaius pheeniceus richmondi). The breeding range of this subspecies within our boundaries comprises only this valley and adja- cent coast so it is very possibly a case of reversion of the usual direction of migra- tion which brings many of these birds 'to us each winter from Tamaulipas, and other parts of eastern Mexico. The great majority have disappeared by the middle of April. Many Cowbirds join with these hordes of Redwings, and are. mostly composed of the common eastern species (3[olothrus ater) and its western subspecies (3/. a. obscurus); but about March, such individuals of Red-eyed Cowbird (Tangavius aeneus involucratus) as have remained are heavily reinforced by southern immi- grants, and a month later it becomes the most abundant Cowbird. The Red-eyed Cowbird haunts corrals and barnyards much as other cowbirds do but they make a finer appearance with their erectile neck-ruff. Sometimes, in early spring morn-