PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 7 



T. M. B. No. 3055. E. Betliel, Vt. Prince. .03 x Ad ; .00 x .50 ; .59 x 

 .50 ; .01 X .50 ; .01 x .50 ; .05 x .50. 



lu these 01 examxDles the extreme length, iu two iustauces, is .70. tfiG 

 least .57, and the mean .01 j extreme breadth .52, least .47, mean .50. 



KECAPITULATION. 



Euip. liammondi 



E. obacurus 



E. (lifficilis 



E. pusillus 



E. traiUi 



E. flaviventris . . 



E. acadiciis 



E. niiniiuus 



Mr. S. D. Osborne (B. IST. O. C. iii, 187) describes the nest and eggs 

 tonnd in a hummock of moss on the island of Grand IMenan, the parent 

 of which was i)rocured, and was by him identified as E. flaviventris. 

 "' The cavity extended in about two inches, was about four inches in 

 depth, and was lined with a very few fine grasses, black hair-like roots, 

 and skins of berries. The eggs, four in number, are white, with a very 

 delicate creamy tint, which differs in its intensity in the different speci- 

 mens, and are spotted, mostly at the larger end, with a few dots and 

 blotches of a light reddish shade." 



Eight days later than Mr. Osborne's discovery, and in a different 

 locality, Messrs. Deane and Purdie secured another nest and set of Qgga^ 

 identified as of the same species, in Houlton, Me. This, too, was " in a 

 ball of green moss." " The lining was mainly of fine black rootlets, 

 with a few i)ine needles and grass stems." " The eggs, four in number, 

 were perfectly fresh, rounded oval in shape, and of a beautiful rosy- 

 white tint, well si)otted with a light reddish sluxde of brown." (B. i'^. 

 O. C. iii, 100.) 



Mr. Osborne remarks that " there are several nests of this bird iu 

 different collections, the identities of most, if not all, of which are dis- 

 puted"; and he adds, "the descrix)tious given by Baird, Brewer and 

 liidgway, agree very well with the nests of the Traill's Flycatcher," &c. 

 The first clause is so vague as to make it doid)tful to what nests he may 

 refer. So far as 1 am aware, prior to 187S only four or live nests of this 

 bu'd had been i)rocured, and of these three at least are as well and as 

 completely identified as are those of eillier ^Ii-. Osborne's or Mr. Pur- 

 die's. Their authenticity is as indisi)utable. 



Mr. Puidie also assumes, " so great is the variation," " that there was 

 some error of identification"; and finally refers the eggs to the Least 

 Flycatcher, and cites Mr. Ridgway as authority. But Mr. KidgwaA , on 



