Page:Notes on the Ornithology of Southern Texas.djvu/44

Rh Tbey measure 1.16 by .86 and 1.19 by .89. They are much like eggs of M. leucoptera, but have a strong olive-buff instead of a creamy-buff tinge.

159. Ortalida vetula var. maccalli, Baird.

The Chaehalac, as the present species is called on the Lower Rio Grande, is one of the most characteristic birds of that region. Rarely seen at any distance from woods or dense chaparral, they are abundant in those places, and their hoarse cries are the first thing heard by the traveller on awaking in the morning. During the day, unless rainy or cloudy, the birds are rarely seen or heard ; but shortly before sunrise and sun- set, they mount to the topmost branch of a dead tree, and make the woods ring with their discordant notes. Contrary to almost every description of their cry I have seen, it consists of three syllables, though occasion- ally a fourth is added. When one bird begins to cry, the nearest bird joins in at the second note, and in this way the fourth syllable is made; but they keep such good time that it is often very difficult to satisfy one's self that this is the fact. I cannot say certainly whether the female utters this cry as well as the male, but there is a well-marked anatomical distinction in the sexes in regard to the development of the trachea. In the male, this passes down outside the pectoral muscles, beneath the skin, to within about one inch of the end of the sternum ; it then doubles on itself, and passes up, still on the right of the keel, to descend within the thorax in the usual manner. This duplicature is wanting in the female. These birds are much hunted for the Brownsville market, though their flesh is not particularly good, and the body is very small for the apparent size of the bird. Easily domesticated, they become trouble- somely familiar, and are decided nuisances when kept about a house. Beyond Ringgold Barracks, this species is said to become rare, and soon to disappear ; and it probably does not pass more than fifty miles to the north of the Rio Grande. The nests are shallow structures, often made entirely of Spanish moss, and are placed on horizontal limbs a few feet from the ground. The eggs, commonly three in number, are about the size and shape of common hens' eggs ; they are of a buffy-white, and are roughly granulated ; they average about 2.18 by 1.55. — (0. maccalli. Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 24. — 0. vetula, Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 50.)

160. Meleagris gallopavo, Linn.

Found in abundance in all suitable localities, but not in the immediate vicinity of the fort ; birds taken here present the characters of var. mexicana well developed. Two eggs taken near Hidalgo by Mr. G. B. Sennett, and presented to me, are quite unlike ; one measures 2.41 by 1.84, and in color and markings is like a typical egg of the domestic turkey 5 the c4her egg, 2.33 by 1.72, is of a pale creamy -white, the spots being few and very pale.— (Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 25.— Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 53.)

161. Cupidonia cupido var. pallidicincta, Ridgw.

1 am informed by a person perfectly familiar with the bird that the Prairie Chicken is occasionally seen on the prairies about Miradores