NEST AND EGGS OF PH^NOPEPLA NITENS 481 



•wLicli was built on a mczquite branch twelve feet from the 

 ground. He gives no further particulars. Dr. Brewer describes 

 this find in detail, and gives an account of the two eggs it con- 

 tained in the first volume of the " History of North American 

 Birds", page 407. About the time that this notice appeared, 

 Dr. Brewer described in the Boston Natural History Society's 

 Proceedings, a nest and contents received from Captain Ben- 

 dire, but unluckilj' called its owner '-'■Myiadestes toicnsendi^, 

 instead of Phcenopepla nitens. As we now know the nest and 

 eggs of Myiadestes, there is no question about the blunder. 

 Recurring to the subject for the third time, in the Appendix 

 (vol. iii, p. 507) of the "History", Dr. Brewer redescribed Ben- 

 dire's material, though in somewhat discrepant terms. 



Passing by the notice of Dr. Cooper's nest as not free from 

 suspicion, though most probably authentic, I present the other 

 two, both based upon the Bendire material. Says Dr. Brewer: — 



" The nest was found May 12th, 1873, built in a low tree. It 

 was a shallow, nearly flat structure, and contained two eggs. 

 These eggs are of very peculiar and well-marked characteristics, 

 resembling no other egg that I can now call to mind. They are 

 of an oblong oval shape, tapering slightly towards one end, and 

 measure, one .90 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth, the 

 other .90 by .70 of an inch. Their ground color is a dull white, 

 slightly tinged with green, and strongly marked over the entire 

 egg with small, but distinct spots of a dark purplish brown, so 

 dark as to be only distinguishable from black in a strong light. 

 Interspersed with these markings are other fine dottings, less 

 distinct and of a lighter shade, and of a dark slate color, with 

 a slight reflection of lilac. The nest and eggs closely correspond 

 with a nest and contents, taken by Dr. Cooper." — (From Proc. 

 Bost. Soc. xvi. 109.) 



" The nest is saddled on a horizontal branch, generally of a 

 mezquite-tree. It is a shallow structure, about 4 inches across; 

 its diameter is 2^ inches, depth ^ an inch. It is composed of 

 fine sticks, fibres of plants, and lined with a little cottonwood 

 down and a stray feather. The first nest was found May 16. 

 This was principally lined with the shells of empty cocoons. 

 The number of eggs was two. Though he [Captain Bendire] 

 found more than a dozen nests with eggs and young, he never 

 found more than two in a nest. Their ground color varies from 

 a greenish-white to a lavender and a grayish-white, spotted 

 31 B c 



