118 Letters, Announcements, l^c. 



green, and is generally quite distinctly to be seen, as the 

 small blotches of reddish- and golden-brown, with which the 

 whole surface is pretty equally and uniformly marked, are 

 nowhere confluent or even numerous. These eggs very 

 closely resemble the very lightly marked varieties of Z. albi- 

 collis, but are smaller and in their shape more spheroidal. 



The nest has an outer diameter of 5 inches, a height of 3 

 inches ; and its cavity is 2| inches deep, with a diameter of 

 the same dimensions at the rim. The base and periphery of 

 the nest form a loosely interwoven mass of thin strips of bark, 

 skeleton leaves, and coarse stalks and stems of plants. It is 

 very thoroughly lined with fine wiry rootlets of wild plants 

 and shrubs. It was in a low bush, just above the ground. 



Evidently the eggs described by Dr. Heermann did not 

 belong to a bird of this species ; and the egg in the British 

 Museum attributed to this Sparrow is incorrectly named, but 

 it is not unlikely to be an egg of Pocecetes gramineus. 



Yours &c., 



Thomas M. Brewer. 



233 Beacon Street, Boston. 

 October 10, 1877. 



Northrepps, November 24, 1877. 



Sirs, — During a recent visit to Newcastle I was enabled, 

 through the kindness of Mr. Hancock, to examine two 

 Buzzards which appear to me to be British-killed examples 

 of Buteo desertorum. They are both in immature plumage, 

 and remarkably resemble the dark-coloured phase of this 

 Buzzard, of which specimens are occasionally sent to this 

 country from Archangel. Both specimens are said to have 

 been found to be males. 



One of the two was killed at Bywell, near Newcastle, in 

 1830, and is now in Mr. Hancock's collection ; its principal 

 measurements are — wing 14*2 inches, tarsus 3"8, middle toe 

 s. u. 1'3. The other was obtained at Tynemouth in No- 

 vember 1870, and is preserved in the Newcastle Museum; 

 its measurements are — wing 14'7 inclies, tarsus 2*7, middle 

 toe s. u. 1*4. 



