164 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 05. 



Here we note two slight departures from the information 

 he imparted to Brewer : 



Ridgway in his Manual of North American Birds (p. 235), 

 when referring to the nest and eggs of this Kite states : "Nest 

 in tops of trees, usually near rivers. Eggs 2-3, 1.63 x 1.32, 

 white usually sparsely and very faintly marked (adventitiously 

 stained?) with pale brownish.'' The measurements given 

 show that he did not consider the eggs to be globular in form, 

 while, on the other hand, he was evidently in doubt as to 

 whether these eggs were not entirely white, and such markings 

 as occur upon them being adventitious. This description is 

 entirely at variance with Audubon's, given above. 



As late as 1884, Coues in his Key to North American Birds, 

 apparently distrusted all former descriptions of the nest and 

 eggs of the Mississippi Kite, and had never seen either himself, 

 for he briefly states there : "Nest of sticks, etc., eggs?" In the 

 fifth edtion of the same work he enlarged upon this consider- 

 ably for he there records : "Nest of sticks, etc., in trees, either 

 deciduous or coniferous, at various heights, 20-60 feet; eggs 

 2-3, 1.65 X 1.35, pale glaucous, normally unmarked, but often 

 with some faint spots or stains ; laid in April, May, or June. 

 (Ictinia subcoendea) (Bartr. Coues), 2nd-4th Ed. 1884-90. 

 p. 524. p. 656. 



This description is probably nearer the mark, though it is 

 likely we would not have to wade very far again into the liter- 

 ature of the subject to meet with others essentially quite dif- 

 ferent. 



Mr. S. Emmet Robertson formerly of Dallas, Texas, now of 

 New York City, has presented me with an unusually fine pho- 

 tograph of the nest and an egg of the species here being 

 considered taken by himself and he has kindly permitted its 

 use in the present connection. 



