PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



T. M. B. 1^0. 3055. E. Bethel, Yt. Prince. .03 x .49 

 .50 ; .01 X .50 ; .01 x .50 ; .05 x .50. 



In these 01 examples the extreme length, in two instances, is .70, the 

 least .57, and the mean .01: 



EECAPITULATIOK. 



Emp. hammoii 

 E. obsciiius. . - 

 E. difficilis.... 



E. pusilluvS 



E. trailli 



E. flavivcntris 

 E. acailirus ... 

 E. minimus . - . 



Mr. S. D. Osborne (B. IST. O. C. iii, 187) describes the nest and eggs 

 fonnd in a hnmmock of moss on the island of Grand Menan, the parent 

 of which was procnred, and was by him identified as E. Jlaviventris. 

 " The cavity extended in about two inches, was abont four inches in 

 depth, and was lined with a very few fine grasses, black hair-lilcc roots, 

 and skins of berries. The eggs, four in number, are white, with a very 

 delicate creamy tint, which differs in its intensity in the different speci- 

 mens, and are spotted, mostly at the larger end, with a few dots and 

 blotches of a light reddish shade." 



Eight days later than Mr. Osborne's discovery, and in a different 

 locality, Messrs. Deane and Purdie secured another nest and set of eggs, 

 identified as of the same species, in Houlton, Me. This, too, was "in a 

 ball of green moss." " The lining was mainly of fine black rootlets, 

 with a few pine needles and grass stems." " The eggs, four in number, 

 were perfectly fresh, rounded oval in shape, and of a beautiful rosy- 

 white tint, well spotted with a light reddish shade of brown." (B. X. 

 O. C. iii, 100.) 



Mr. Osborne remarks that " there are several nests of this bird in 

 different collections, the identities of most, if not all, of which are dis- 

 puted"; and he adds, "the descriptions given by Baird, Brewer and 

 Eidgway, agree very well with the nests of the Traill's Flycatcher," »S:c. 

 The first clause is so vague as to make it doubtful to what nests he may 

 refer. So far as I am aware, prior to 1878 only four or five nests of this 

 bird had been i)rocured, and of these three at least are as well and as 

 completely identified as are those of either JMr. O.sborne's or Mr. Pur- 

 die's. Their authenticity is as indisputable. 



Mr. Piu'die also assumes, " so great is the variation," " that there was 

 some error of identification " ; and finally refers the eggs to the Least 

 Flycatcher, and cites Mr. Eidgway as authority. But Mr. Eidgway, on 



