ORmTHOLOGICAL CLUB. 77 



Texas, and forms a most welcome contribution to our knowledge of the 

 ornithology of that region. The list shows an unusual mingling of east- 

 ern and western species, and, as would be naturally expected, a consider- 

 able proportion of strictly southern forms. On the barren Staked Plain 

 few birds were met with, and these mainly about water-holes ; along the 

 timber-skirted streams, however, bu-d life was abundant. — J. A. A. 



Nest and Eggs of Townsend's Flycatcher. — In July, 1876, while 

 rambling with my brother over the mountains of Summit County, Colo- 

 rado, it was my good fortune to find, at an altitude of about ten thousand 

 feet, the nest of Townsend's Flycatcher (Myiadestes townsendi), and as 

 no description of its eggs has as yet appeared, perhaps the following may 

 not be uninteresting : The nest was very loosely, and, externally, shabbily 

 built of long dry grasses, straggling two feet or more below it. It Avas 

 placed in the upper bank of a minei-'s ditch (running from the Bear River, 

 above Breckenridge, to the Gold Run and Buffalo Flat diggings), and was 

 partly concealed by overhanging roots ; yet it was rendered so con- 

 spicuous by the loose swaying material of which it was composed, as well 

 as by that which had become attached to the overhanging roots during its 

 construction, as to attract the eye of an experienced collector when yet some 

 rods away. On nearing the nest the bird immediately took flight, and 

 alighted on the topmost branch of the nearest pine. Resting uneasily here 

 for half a minute, it then, in short, uncertain flights, worked its way down 

 the mountain side and out of sight. Withdrawing to a convenient cover, 

 we had only to wait a few moments for the bird to return, perch herself 

 on fi branch a few feet from liie nest, peer anxiously into it, and then 

 quickly resume her task of incubation. Moving cautiously along the 

 bank above the ditch, we tried to capture the bird by placing a hat over 

 the nest, but, miscalculating its location by a few inches, the bird eluded 

 the stroke and made good her escape, as she did also on our second attempt 

 to capture her. Again retreating to cover, we waited for half an hour for 

 the bird to return, when suddenly we espied it flying from branch to 

 branch, displaying by its restless motions more anxiety and suspicion than 

 before, yet constantly working nearer its home, which it soon reached and 

 settled quietly again to business. After the last unsuccessful attempt to 

 catch the bird, a stick was placed on the bank directly over the nest, 

 to mark its exact locality, and this time, moving with less haste and more 

 caution, we gained the desired position, lay down on the bank, and taking 

 a hat in each hand quickly covered the opening and secured the unfortu- 

 nate bird, and also the opportunity of giving to ornithologists an authentic 



