394 Letters, Announcements, ifc. 



" All these expeditions and explorations of natural resources 

 are not without a purpose ! In ] 873, the Petchora was visited 

 by Austrian travellers under Wilchek, in 1875-6 by the 

 English zoologists ; and now the advent of the English mer- 

 chants Bell and Gardins is expected, arising solely from John 



Brown & Co/s expedition Why do Russian naturalists 



not care for the Petchora? So many foreigners — scientific 

 men and merchants — visit the country, and no Russians ; it 

 is strange ! " 



The discovery of Anthus gustavi and Phylloscopus tristis 

 in the Petchora country is of course quite sufficient to ac- 

 count for this impending rush of British traders. 



I am, &c., 



Edward R. Alston. 



London, May 26, 1877. 



Sir, — I send you the following notes, trusting they will 

 interest the readers of ' The Ibis.^ 



I have recently received from a gentleman temporarily 

 stationed in the mountains of upper Colorado the very inter- 

 esting nest and eggs of Dendroeca auduboni. It is only the 

 second nest of this bird of which any record has been made, 

 and differs from the first in many respects : it also shows the 

 most eastern and southern point to which the bird has been 

 traced in the breeding-season. The nest was taken and the 

 parentage of the eggs identified by Mr. Edward Carter, a 

 gentleman investigating the ornithology of upper Colorado, 

 near Breckenridge Pass in Summit County. 



The two eggs I have, from a set of five, are said to repre- 

 sent the extremes in their markings. They are, however, 

 very much alike. Their ground-colour is a very light green 

 or greenish white. One is spotted and blotched, only about 

 the larger end, with a wreath of mingled shadings of very 

 light lilac, purple, and brown, the extreme ends having a 

 circle nearly bare of spots ; a waving line of umber, almost 

 black in its integrity, extends almost entirely round the egg, 

 just within the corona ; and there are a few minute dots of the 

 same. The other egg has a similar crown, but none of the 



