IIzj. General Notes. [January 



creased, concealed myself close by, and after a long wait succeeded in 

 procuring the female as she flew from the nest. At that time I knew so 

 little about American birds or their eggs that I took no eggs except 

 when I could authenticate them by procuring the female bird. 



The nest was a compai-atively slight structure, rather flat in shape, 

 composed of small sticks and roots, lined with finer portions of the latter. 

 The eggs, three in number, were of a clear, greenish ground color, blotched 

 with pale brown. They were fresh. The nest was placed about fifteen 

 feet from the ground in the extreme top of a thick willow bush. The 

 slight canon, with a few willow bushes in its centre bordering a small 

 stream, lies in the midst of very dense pine timber at an altitude of about 

 7000 feet, as far as I can judge. 



I mentioned the fact of my having taken the nest of the Evening Gros- 

 beak to my friend, Mr. E. W. Nelson, but at first he was decidedly 

 sceptical on the subject. On November 5, 1SS5. however, while staying 

 at Mr. Nelson's ranch, eight miles southwest of Springerville, and during 

 a slight snowstorm, I saw a second specimen of this species among a large 

 number of Mexican Crossbills {^Loxia cnrvirostra stricklatidi) but failed 

 to kill it. Next day (Nov. 6), while riding near the same place with Mr. 

 Nelson, we came upon three Evening Grosbeaks, and after several shots 

 he succeeded in killing a fine male with a charge of bucksnot ! These 

 are the on/y occasions that I have known of this bird being seen any- 

 where around here, but ornithological ot)servers here are few and far 

 between. — John Swinburne, Spri?igeKville, Arizona. 



[Mr. Swinburne is probably the first ornithologist who has had the 

 good fortune to find the nest of this species, although Mr. W. E. Bryant's 

 later discovery has already been recorded.* — Ed.] 



Occurrence of Coccothraustes vespertina in Iowa. — Among other 

 visitors from the north, during the ^\ inter of 18S6-S7, numbers of Evening 

 Grosbeaks appeared in this neighborhood. About the middle of December 

 several were observed a short distance north of the city, but it was not 

 until the first of February that they began to appear in the principal 

 streets. When first noticed in the town, there was a flock of twenty-five 

 or more feeding upon the samara? which were still attached to the 

 branches of the box elders. The kernels of the keys were quickly and 

 adroitly removed and the refuse allowed to fall upon the snow beneath, 

 which after a short time was thickly strewn with the remains of the feast. 

 February 23 a flock of over one hundred suddenly appeared on the 

 University campus, and after remaining an hour or more, departed. From 

 this date until April 30, nearly ten weeks, it was their custom to visit the 

 campus early in the morning and remain until noon, when they would 

 fly away and spend the remainder of the day elsewhere. During their 

 stay the food of these birds consisted chiefly of the samarae of the box 

 elders and sugar maples, the young leaf buds of various trees, seeds, and 



* Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. Vol. II, 1887. 



