Nov., t9o31 THE CONDOR ?5? Troglodytes aedon aztecus. Western House Wren. Rather rare; a few were seen but none taken. Cistothorus palustris plesius. Western Marsh Wren Taken at Sulphur Spring March x6 at which time they were abundant. Sitta carolinensis aculeata. ?lender-billed Nuthatch. Abundant in the the mountains, but none seen in the valley. Parus wollweberi. Bridled Titmouse. Common resident in the mountains where they frequent the oak woods. Many were taken in the Dragoon and Chiricahua mountains. Psaltriparus plumbeus. Lead-colored Tit. Very common in the Dragoon mountains where it was generally seen with the preceding species. Regulus sp. Kinglet. A few females wereseenin the Dragoon and Chiricahua mountains. Polioptila ca?rulea obscura. Western Gnatcatcher. First seen March i7; occasionally met with later. Myadestestownsendi. Townsend Solitaire. Found in the Dragoon moun- tains in winter. Hylocichla guttara auduboni. Audubon Hermit Thrush. One was taken in the Dragoon mountains April x4. A few others were seen on the same date. Merula migratoria propinqua. Western Robin. Common in the Dragoon mountains. Sialia mexicana bairdi. Chestnut-backed Bluebird. Common but less so than the following species, with which it was associated. Sialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird. In winter large flocks were seen in the mountains and occasionally in the valley. Notes on the Texan Jay BY HOWARD LACEY N buying a small ranch in Kerr county, Texas, in the summer of x882, and stocking it with a few cows and other domestic animals, I began to spend my spare time in studying the habits of the wild creatures that I met, and at first gave nearly all my attention to the birds of the neighborhood. Not find- ing anyone else who took much interest in such things, I bought Coues' Key to North American Birds, and with this and a shot gun I by degrees learned the names of most of the birds that I saw as I rode about the range. I dislike having to use the gun, so I made a point of making a rough skin (a very rough one indeed at first) ot everything that I shot and could not identify. In t893 I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of the "professor" who was then living in San Antonio, with whom I have since taken many pleas- ant little excursions, and between us we got to be on familiar terms with most of our bird neighbors. One of the birds that [ could not place was our common iay, now known as the Texan jay (Aphelocoma texana). In December, x894, when deer hunting on the head of the Nueces river, I shot and skinned one of these birds and sent it to the professor. He sent it on, [ believe, to the late Captain Bendire, and it is now the type of the species. In
