IlO General Notes. [Janunry 



four. This enumeration does not include nests found containing 3'oung, 

 several of which I examined, but in no one instance did I see less than 

 two. There is no difference, on the average, in the size of sets between 

 the years 1S85 and 18S7. 



The winter and spring of 1884-85 were unusually cold. Ice an eighth 

 of an inch thick formed repeatedly in the valley, and the mountains were 

 as often snow-capped. The winter and spring of 1885-86 were very mild, 

 but more especially were those of 1886-87. Unfortunately I cannot give 

 the temperature, but the appended table shows the extent of the rainfall : — 



Dried grass usually is a staple article with Palmer's Thrashers for nest 

 lining. A nest last year lined with feathers and grass was the first 

 deviation I had ever seen from it, but this year nothing seemed to go 

 amiss for that purpose. Those nesting in the vicinity of a slaughter-house 

 frequently economized on grass by using about one half pig bristles. In 

 a nest of this build I also saw a piece of baling rope that had been skil- 

 fully worked in, I saw several that were lined with grass and horsehair, 

 also several that were lined with grass and feathers. The H. bendirei 

 by no means confine themselves to grass for nest lining, as is abundantlj' 

 evidenced by my oological notes. — Herbert Brow'N, Tucson., Arizona. 



Feeding Habits of Sitta canadensis. — On the 28th of October last in the 

 Northern Adironducks I noticed that the Red-bellied Nuthatches seemed 

 to be feeding exclusively on the seeds of the black spruce. After that I 

 watched them for a number of days, and although they were abundant, I 

 did not see them feeding on anything else. Alighting on a bunch of 

 cones at the extremity of a bough, the Nuthatch would insert its bill be- 

 tween the scales of a cone and draw out a seed. Then flying to a horizon- 

 tal bough near by it would detach the wing which adheres to each seed, 

 letting it fall to the ground, swallow the seed, and fly back for another. 

 Frequently a good many trips would be made between the same bunch of 

 cones and the same bough where the wing was separated from the seed. 



The Red-bellied Nuthatches were very abundant — much more so than 

 the White-bellied — and it was an interesting sight to watch them feed- 

 ing in this way. One specimen, killed while feeding, contained no food 

 but the seeds of the spruce. I did not observe the White-bellied 

 Nuthatch make use of this supply of food. — C. K. Averill, Jr., Bridge- 

 port, Conn. 



Spotted Eggs ofParus gambeli. — In the spring of 18S2, when living 

 at Gold Run, in the Belt Mountains, I noticed a pair of Mountain Chick- 

 adees flitting about a knot-hole some fifteen feet up in a cotton-wood tree. 



