48 Recent Literature. 



hours, in the oviduct. The latter was unfortunately broken by a 

 shot ; the fragments of the shell were pure white and. unspotted. 

 The nest * is placed on the ground in a slight hollow scratched by 

 the birds. It is e.xceedingly hard to find, as the sitting female 

 when approached steals silently away under cover of the surround- 

 ing vegetation, and if seen at all is likely to be mistaken for a star- 

 tled mouse. The occurrence of two nests with young in July, 

 1878, near Point Reyes, communicated to Mr. Allen by Mr. T. H. 

 Estey, seems to indicate that a second brood may be sometimes 

 raised. The food of these Sparrows apparently consists largely of 

 grubs and a certain green worm that infests the bushes among 

 which they live. At least, this is the case during the breeding sea- 

 son, when Mr. Allen has repeatedly seen the parent birds carrying 

 these worms to their yoiuig. In the autumn the Rufous-crowned 

 Sparrows are to be found in straggling groups composed of two or 

 three individuals. They all depart for the [south. before the winter 

 season sets in. 



^tctni miitvaixxvt, 



Lawrence and Obeu on the Birds of Dominica and St. 

 Vincent. — The important explorations by Mr. F. A. Ober in some of 

 the smaller West India Islands (Lesser Antilles) have been rich in inter- 

 esting results i-elating to birds. The collections and observations made 

 by Mr. Ober have been made the basis of several recent papers by Mr. 

 George N. Lawrence, in which^no less than fourteen species supposed to be 

 new have been describcd.f Mr. Lawrence has also prepared special lists 

 of the birds obtained by Mr. Ober at two of the principal localities ex- 



* For a description of the nest and eggs of this species see Vol. II, p. 37, of 

 this Bulletin. Mr. Allen assures me that all uncertainty as to the correct iden- 

 tification of the specimens there described has been removed by his subsequent 

 investigations in the same locality. Not only have .similar nests been found, 

 but Peucma ruficcjis is ascertained to be the only bird of any species that breeds 

 on that portion of Black Mountain. 



t 1. Descriptions of New Species of Birds from the Island of Dominica. 

 By George N. Lawrence. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. I, pp. 46-49. (Spp. no v. 

 Thryotlwrus rufesccns, Bcndrceca plumhca, Myiarclms obcri.) 



2. Descriptions of Seven New Species of Birds from the Island of St. Vincent, 

 West Indies. By George N. Lawrence. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. I, pp. 

 147-153. June, 1878. (Spp. nov. Turdus nigrirostris, Myiad.stes sibilans. 



