Page:Notes on the Ornithology of Southern Texas.djvu/35

150 it so abundant as on the military reservation at Fort Brown. Here it seems perfectly at home among the dense, tangled thickets, darting rapidly among the bashes and creeping vines, an I is with difficulty obtained. A rather noisy bird, its shrill cries usually first attract one's attention to its presence. A Hummer's nest, undoubtedly made by this species, was found in September, 1877, within tbe fort. It was placed on the fork of a dead, drooping twig of a small tree on the edge of a path through a thicket : it was about seven feet from the ground, and contained the shrivelled body of a young bird. The nest is made of the downy blossoms of the tree on which it is placed, bound on the outside with cobwebs, and rather sparingly covered with lichens. Internally, it is somewhat less than one inch in depth by one-half inch in diameter.

The external depth is one and one-half inch.

Note. — Besides these two species of Hummers actually taken, I have seen two others that are certainly new to our avifauna, but have uot been able to capture them. One of these is a large, green species, with a long tail ; the other, a very small bird, of a deep purplish-brown color. 126. G-eococcyx californianus, (Less.)

This curious bird is abundant, and is a resident. Its food consists of insects, field-mice, small snakes, and snails. Of these latter, one spe- cies (a variety of Bulimulus alternatus) is very common, passing the dry season on bushes and cacti, and of this the bird is very fond. Quite large piles of the broken shells are constantly to be seen along the road- sides about some fallen branch on which the bird breaks them. As a rule, the " road-runner" is a silent bird, but occasionally it is heard to utter one of two notes. One is a " JcooJc-JcooJc-JcooJcJcooJc", much like the call of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but louder, and usually heard during the breeding season. The other is a note of alarm or auger : it is a low t growling sound, accompanied by a chattering of the bill. The nests are usually placed in low, thorny bushes, and are thick, clumsy structures, with but a slight depression for the eggs. The latter appear to be deposited at intervals of several days, and a perfectly fresh egg is often found with one on the point of hatching. I have never found more than four eggs or young in one nest. — (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 466. — Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 36.)

127. *Coccyzus americanus, (Linn.)

Kot uncommon summer visitor; breeding rather plentifully. — (Dres- ser, Ibis, 1865, 467.— Sennett, B. Eio Grande, 38.)

128. * Picus scalaris, Wagler. f

Common resident. In notes and habits, this little bird is so like the Downy Woodpecker that there is little to be said about it. Eighteen perfectly identified eggs now before me average .81 by .64, which is much less than the measurements given in Baird, Brewer, and Eidgway, II r

519. — (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 468.— Sennett, B. Eio Grande, 38.)