Page:Condor15(5).djvu/19

 Sept., 1913 IROM IIELD AND STUDY 183 fortunate enough to observe them; so I presume their normal southern extension in Texas must find its limit somewhere between, the Los Olmos and the Rio Grande. -- Icterus melanocephalus audubonl. Fully as abundant resident here as in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and observed frequently throughout my stay. The Los Olmos creek bottom was a favorite locality with them, where I would sometimes come across six or more in a single tramp. Euphagus cyanocephalus. The prevailing "blackbird" during the winter months here. About Brownsville its numbers are insignificant at any season compared to the next species, Cowbirds or Red-winged Blackbirds. Megaquiscalus major macrourus. Although this locality is fully forty miles inland, the Great-tailed Grackle proves not uncommon; however, it is seldom that I observed more than one pair at a time. Passerherbulus lecontel. Noted only between December 5 and 14. During this period it was not uncommon in the only place I was able to find it in--a low damp spot of perhaps two acres extent, in a large meadow. This same locality was largely resorted to by Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows, making it somewhat difficult to determine the particular species as a bird flushed. However, the .Leconte Sparrow is the weakest on the wing of any of the forms referred to; also when flushed in the late afternoon it would occasionally alight in one of the dwarf retamas (Parkinsonla aculeata) that fringed the wet area, when it could be easily distinguished by the rufous-brown nape. I was never able to record this bird from the Lower Rio Grande alley, although this record points to the probability that the species is only a transient near Falfurrias. Spizella pusilla arenacea. The Western Field Sparrow is a most abundant winter visitant about Falfurrias, being present in numbers when I arrived, and 'not disappearing until after March 15.. It resorted to fence rows, weed grown roadways and gardens, as- sociating with the numerons species of sparrows found here at that season, including the Clay-colored Sparrow. Peucaea cassini. Found in limited numbers, usually confining its activities to the immediate vicini.ty of groups of pad-cactus that grow along the roadways, from which it was flushed with great difficulty. Arrcmonops rufvlrgatus. Confined to underbrush growing along the Los Olmos creek, where individuals were now and then to be seen, usually in the act of disappearing into the dense tangles of clematis. Pyrrhuloia sinuata teana. Is a common resident of this region, largely replacing the Gray-tailed Cardinal, the latter being mostly confined to the vicinity of the Los Olmos creek. With the advent of the nesting season the Texas Pyrrhuloxia loses much of its shy- ness and resorts to the neighborhood of human habitations, where along with the Western Mockingbird and Curve-billed Thrasher its song is a most striking feature in the advent of spring. Calamospiza melanocorys. Winters in enormous numbers. Was still present in small flocks as late as April 8, when many of the males had assumed the nuptial plumage. Vireo griseus micrus. The only vireo noted here. Quite abundant along the Los Ol- mos creek throughout the period of my stay. Vermlvora rufcapilla rufcapilla. One record: A bird taken December 19, near the Los Olmos creek. Was in the company of numerous Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Oreoscoptes montanus. A lone bird, shot as it perched on a pad-cactus growing along a roadway was the only record. It was seemingly some distance from its normal habitat, as no sage brush is found in this section. Toostoma longirostre sennetti. Strictly confined to the vicinity of Los Olmos creek in this part of Brooks County, where specimens were secured on December 1 and others observed at various later dates.--AuswN P^u $w}I. Mourning Dove in the Lower Yakima Valley, Washingtom--.In the lower Yakima Valley the Mourning Doves (Zenaidura macroura) appear to have made a blunder in migrating this year. Doves are more scarce than in the past four seasons, and so far I have located only one nesting pair in this neighborhood. Winter was steady, with the ground covered with snow until the last week in January, when the weather moderated. During this thaw doves appeared in small flocks. About February 1 winter weather re- turned, and no more doves were seen until May 5, since which time they have been seen daily, but not as numerously as Usual.--CLAaENCE HAXILTON KENNE).