Letters, Announcements, S^c. 117 



of a smallj dead, drooping branch of a tree, on the edge of 

 a path through a thicket. It was about seven feet from 

 the ground, and contained the shrivelled body of a young 

 bird. It is made of soft down from a high common about 

 here, but of what plant is unknown to me, bound on the 

 outside with cobwebs, and sparingly covered with lichens. 

 Internally it measures less than an inch in depth. Its 

 external depth is an inch and a half. This species is quite 

 abundant on the reservation, frequenting dense thickets and 

 narrow paths ; it is restless and noisy, and is not easily 

 obtained. It arrives in March, and leaves in October.'^ 



Yours, &c., 



T. M. Brewer. 



Sirs, — I send you the following notes relative to the 

 nesting of the Zonotrichia coronata, Baird, which I hope may 

 not be without interest to the readers of ' The Ibis.' 



The Golden-crowned Sparrow is one of our Pacific species, 

 of whose history little is known. It is found in summer from 

 California to Alaska, and in winter wanders as far south as 

 Cape St. Lucas. Its most eastern point is Sierra Nevada, 

 where it is known only as a straggler. Up to the present 

 summer its nesting and eggs had remained unknown, the 

 description given by Dr. Heermann of a supposed nest found 

 near Sacramento being regarded as of questionable authenti- 

 city. 



On the 14th of June, 1877, Mr. Ludwig Kumlien (son of 

 the well-known ornithologist of Wisconsin, and now Natura- 

 list with our expedition to establish an arctic colony), in Shosta 

 County, California, on the banks of the Cloud River, was so 

 fortunate as to secure the nest and eggs of this species, and 

 the female parent. 



The eggs were four in number, measure from 0-80 to 0*82 

 inch in length, and from 0*64 to 0*67 inch in their greatest 

 breadth. They are of a rounded oval shape, and are but 

 little more obtuse at one end than at the other. The ground- 

 colour, like that of all the eggs of this genus, is a light 



