PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 6 



Enipidonax pusillus, Cal>anis. 



Siuitlisoiiian No. 10305. Snake Eiver. Merriam. .76 x .52; .75 x .50. 



Sinitlisoiiian No. 15210. Parley's Park, Utah. Eobt. Eidgway. .77 

 X .55 ; .70 X .55 ; .78 x .57. 



Sinitlisoniau No. 15207. From the same. .04 x .49 ; .70 x .51 ; .04 x .52. 



Smithsonian No. 12DS2. Sacramento, Cal. Eidgway. .70 x .52 ; .74 

 X .55 ; .70 X .54 ; .70 x .52. 



Smithsonian No. 8543. Vanconver Ishind. Hepbnrn. .74 x .55. 



T. M. P>. No. 9()0. Northern California. Hepburn. .72 x .5S ; .73 x 

 .oS ; .73 X .59. 



T. M. B. No. 2119. Lake Koskonong, Wis. Tlinre Kumlien. Both 

 parents secured. .08 x .52 ; .71 x .54. 



By the kindness of Mr. II. W. Henshaw I am enabled to give the 

 measurements of two sets of eggs taken by him near Honey Lake, Cal., in 

 the summer of 1878, June 25. The tirst set of three eggs has an un- 

 usually i)inkish tinge to the cream-colored ground, and around the larger 

 end is a beautiful wreath of markings of a light lilac-brown blending 

 with others of reddish brown. These eggs measure .75 x .55; .74 x .58; 

 .78 X .59. 



The other set of four eggs have a nearly jiure Avhite ground, and are 

 marked around the wider portion of the egg with small red-brown and 

 a few lilac-brown spottings of a rounded shape. The rest of each egg, 

 including the larger end, has an unspotted surface. One egg has only a 

 very few very fine dottings, and is very nearly pnre white. Their meas- 

 nrements are .09 x .55 ; .08 x .54 ; .70 x .55 ; .71 x .58. 



All the eggs of this species have a certain family resemblance, which 

 it is easy to recognize at sight, but very difficult to describe distinguish- 

 ingly. They are all more or less marked with small, rounded spots, 

 rarely blotched, and the markings are, some of them, much more minute 

 than is usual in any other species. The spots are also scattered more 

 about the entire egg, or, if confined, are chiefly on the larger portion of 

 the circumference, and never, or certainly rarely, confluent. 



Mr. Henshaw informs me that he has examined at least twenty-five 

 nests of this species {piisiUus), and that with only one exception they 

 have all been built in willows. The nest before me, taken by Mr. H. 

 near Honey Lake, June 25, 1877, is a well- woven structure, made of thin 

 strips of the inner bark of deciduous trees, broken bits of dry grasses, 

 lichens, &c., and is lined with fine grasses and hair.^ It is pyramidal in 

 shape, tapering to a point at the base, and is 4J in external height and 

 31 in external breadth. The cavity is two inches deep. It contained 

 the set of four eggs referred to above. 



The exception referred to by ]Mr. Henshaw was a nearly completed 

 nest of this species, found June 17, that was placed in a crotch of a 

 swinging grape-vine. Its structure is said to have been unusually neat 

 and firm for a Flycatcher's. (Wheeler's Eeport, 1870, p. 255.) 



