I04 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 18-N0. 7 



specks and spots of lilac show through the 

 russet. Size, 1.9 1 X 1.57. 



During the succeeding years I have taken 

 quite a presentable drawer of eggs of our 

 breeding Hawks, but my first egg is the gem 

 of them all. 



On May 5th, 1892, I was afield up the 

 valley of Black River in a scattering piece 

 of mixed timber. An old nest in a good 

 sized yellow birch showed signs of being re- 

 paired. A visit on the morning of the 13th 

 showed the nest nicely built up, with green 

 twigs of hemlock showing in the sides. A 

 vigorous pounding on the tree flushed no 

 bird, so I turned to leave and there on the 

 lower limb of a tree not two rods away sat 

 a female Broad-wing. I strapped on the 

 irons and went up to find the nest all ready 

 for their reception, but no eggs. Several 

 visits during the next twelve days did not 

 warrant a full set. I went up again the 26th 

 and found two eggs, clean and fresh, one 

 about half as large as the other. I brought 

 them down, then changed my mind, went 

 back up and left them in the nest. I climbed 

 up again on the 28th, still only two eggs, 

 which I now took. The owner protested 

 with her sad, supplicating notes. The larger 

 egg is faint bluish-white, sparsely spotted 

 and specked with umber-brown, portions of 

 the surface slightly granulated, somewhat 

 flattened on one side; size, 2.00 x 1.59. 

 The smaller is unmarked, pale greenish- 

 white, pointed at one end, shell very thick 

 and rough : size, 1.76x1.30. It contained 

 no yolk, but, besides the white, several pieces 

 of tough substance resembling the inner lin- 

 ing of the egg. The nest was twenty-seven 

 and a half feet from the ground, and, as I 

 have before stated, was an old one rebuilt, 

 thickly lined with inner barks, chunks of 

 lichen, covered red-oak bark, pieces of rotten 

 wood, sprigs of green hemlock and several 

 wing and tail feathers of the owners. Great- 

 est outside diameter twenty-eight inches ; 

 smallest, fifteen inches ; inside diameter, 

 eleven inches ; depth of nest cavity three 

 inches. Boi Jaiiiiii Hoag. 



Stephentown, New York. 



A Peculiar Nesting Site of Coccy- 



zus Erythropthalmus. 



During the present season I have taken 

 seven clutches of the above species, and have 

 been familiar with the bird from my early 

 boyhood, but had yet, up to June 4th, 1893, 

 to find a nest on the ground. In this case 

 the nest was placed in a clump of weeds 

 and within two inches of mother earth. The 

 bird was flushed, and both bird and nest 

 were typical. Two eggs, partially incubated, 

 made up the clutch. I should be glad to 

 hear from other collectors concerning their 

 experiences in this direction. 



C L. Jiro-viiclL 



Nyack-on-Hudson, N.Y. 



Notes from Riverside, Cal. 



I took, this spring, a very queer specimen 

 of Brewer's Blackbird. It is a young male, 

 but instead of having the brownish cast of 

 the young, it is a hoary ash on breast and 

 throat, and the first four primaries of each 

 wing are snow white. Otherwise it is nor- 

 mal plumage. 



September, 1892, I secured from a flock 

 feeding in sunflower ticket a female Carpo- 

 dacits frotitaUs. The plumage is white, 

 with the markings of the female of this 

 species outlined in [lale brownish buff, 'i'he 

 bill and feet are flesh color ; the eyes are, 

 however, the usual dark-brown. 



I would like to know something about the 

 range of the Black Rail [Porzaiia jaiiiar- 

 cenc/'s). I secured a fine specimen here 

 August 13, 1892, while mowing alfalfa hay. 



Loye Miller. 



Riverside, Cal. 



Benjamin F. Goss died at his home in 

 Pewaukee, Wisconsin, on July 6, 1893, aged 

 7c years. He was an oologist of consider- 

 able prominence, and his death will be 

 lamented by his many friends. 



We have just printed a price-list of Birds' 

 Eggs, which will be sent on application. 



