( 382 ) 



No. 780, lo. iii. I'.iol. In free standiDg at the bottom of a dry rocky arroya, 

 12 ft. above tlie jji'imiid. Composfd of twicjs and rootlrts and leaves. Two old 

 nests close by. (U. H. Beck.) 



The eggs are n.snally four in nniuber, sometimes five. One J'fmale was flushed 

 on three days from only two eggs. 



The eggs are light greenish, more or less frcc|iu'ntly marked with reddish-brown 

 patches and spots, and underlying ones of a mauve colour. The re<ldish-l]rown spots 

 are sometimes continent, and often form a more or less marked ring near the 

 thick end. 



Measurements : 2rv3 x 19-5, 25-5 x 19-7, 24-0 x 19-0, 2.") x 19(i, 25-5 x 19-6, 

 2(5 x 19-9, 25-5 x 19-8, 25-4 x 19-6, 26-4 x 19 6 mm. 



Nesomimus melanotis personatus Ridgw. 



Nov. ZuOL. VI, 1899, p. 144. 



Mr. Beck sent some specimens from Abingdon, which show the differences 

 mentioned by IJidgway. 



" This form of mockiug-thrush was common on Abingdon, around Cajie 

 t'halmers, and uj) the southern slope to the top. Many young spotted birds 

 were seen. An incubated set of four eggs was taken on April 1.5th near the 

 top of the island, in a Vnish only 4 ft. from the ground. It consists of grass and 

 weed-stems with a little moss, lined with finer grass, and placed on a foundation of 

 twigs. Two eggs were addled, and two nearly ready to hatch. Both birds came 

 about after the ? left the nest on my approach. It was similar to those found on 

 Indefatigable and Narborough. Another nest was noted incomplete in a bush 6 ft. 

 uji, within 12 ft. of a Geospiza crassirostris nest containing three eggs. After 

 taking the crassirostris nest I tracked otf to shoot the parent, and while so doing 

 one of the mockers flew to the nest lying oxi the ground, j)icked one of the eggs, 

 and, but for my rapid interference, would undoubtedly have finished the other two. 

 This action was similar to that of the mockers on Hood Island on our trip in 1897, 

 when they tried, by rolling and picking, to break Albatross' eggs which we placed in 

 a pile while collecting other eggs.'' (R. H. Beck.) 



The eggs are rather elongated and of a pale ground-colour, as well as with paler 

 and less sharp markings. They measure (only two being unbroken) 27 x 19 and 

 27 5 X 18".i mm. 



Nesomimus melanotis melanotis (Gould). 



Nov. Zooi,. VI, 1899, p. 145. 



Nesnunnms melitnoth dierythrus, Ilellur & Snodgrass, Cniidur 111. (1901) p. 74 (Seymour and 

 Indefatigable Is.]. 



Messrs. Heller and Snodgrass have described as above the birds from Seymour 

 and Indefatigable, but we find that the ditferences they rely on are individual and 

 not at all local. The smaller si/.e of the bills is matched by many of our specimens 

 from .Tervis and .James, and we have two with smaller bills than any measurements 

 ({noted by Messrs. H. and S. With regard to the reddish-brown of the rump, we 

 find that our birds from Jervis and .James show this very strongly, while some of 

 the Indefatigable birds have no trace of it, and the others only vestiges. 



A further series from Wenman only confirms the strange fact that this form 

 should occur on the central islands and again on the far outlying island of Wenman. 



