168 Brown on Birds observed at Coosada, Alabama. 



shape, and of a beautiful rosy-white tint, well spotted with a light 

 reddish shade of brown. They closely resemble the eggs of B. 

 diffi,cilis I have from California, and other sets of eggs of that bird 

 I have lately seen. The nest and contents are now in Mr. Deane's 

 collection. It will be seen that the whole affair was not unlike 

 the descriptions given of the nest and eggs of E. difficilis by Dr. J. 

 G. Cooper of Haywood, Cal. 



The nests and eggs mentioned by Dr. Brewer differ so much from 

 those here described that it seems reasonable to suppose that there 

 was some error of identification in the nests found by him as cited 

 above, so great is the variation presented between his nests and 

 eggs and ours ; for it seems hardly probable that this Flycatcher 

 should be so very inconstant, both as to the materials and situa- 

 tion of the nest, and as to whether it lays spotted or unspotted 

 eggs. In the National Museum at Washington there are three sets 

 of eggs accredited to U. Jlaviventris. The eggs of one of these sets 

 are spotted, those of the other two are not, and these latter are 

 strongly suggestive of those of the Least Flycatcher ; so write me 

 Messrs. Robert Ridgway and H. W. Henshaw. 



As no accounts of the breeding of E. difficilis have yet appeared 

 in any ornithological works, the following references to the nesting 

 habits may be useful : Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Vol. VI, p. 199, Dec, 

 1875; Am. Nat., Vol. X, p. 93, Feb., 1876; The Naturalist and 

 Fancier, Grand Rapids, Mich., Vol. I, p. 43, Nov., 1877. 



A LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED AT COOSADA, CENTRAL 



ALABAMA. 



BY NATHAN CLIFFORD BROWN. 



Coosada is a little station on the North and South Alabama 

 Railroad, ten miles north of Montgomery. The population, consist- 

 ing of planters and their attendant negroes, is sparse, and nowhere 

 attains sufficient density to produce a regular village. The country 

 is rather fiat, occasionally rolling slightly, and in its uncidtivated 

 portions is mostly covered with a dense growth of pines of various 

 species. There are a few dry groves of oak and " black jack," but 

 the hard-wood trees are principally confined to the creek bottoms 

 and margins of swamps, where they flourish in the typical Southern 

 luxuriance and variety, interspersed with cane and overrun by 



