General Notes. 241 



all question, as I found both nests myself, and the birds were never lost 

 sight of from the time they left the nests until they were in our possession. 

 Ornithologists may draw what inferences they please from these facts, but 

 to my mind they augur ill for the identity of those nests which have been 

 found in bushes, built of stubble, etc., and containing pure white eggs. — 

 S. D. OsBORXE, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Nesting of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax jiavi- 

 ventris). — During a collecting trip made the past season with Mi'. J. 

 Dwight, Jr., to Fort Fairfield, Maine, I had the good fortune to obtain two 

 nests of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher {Empidonax Jlaviventris). As but 

 little is known of the breeding habits of this bird, a description of the nest 

 and eggs may not be without interest. 



My first nest, containing four fresh eggs, which was taken on June 14, 

 I found in rather wet mixed woods of small spruces and arbor-vittes, with 

 a few larger hemlocks, — also a few yellow birches and maples. It was on 

 the edge of a bank formed by a decayed tree trunk, and over a pool in a 

 small brook that Avas flowing beneath the moss-covered trunks of fallen 

 trees. The nest was protected above and hidden from sight by some 

 green moss growing upon a projecting root. A small vine (liibes lacustre) 

 growing past the entrance of the nest gave additional concealment. The 

 bird flew from the nest when I was within a few feet of it. After a short 

 time she returned to the nest, and I again flushed her. Just as she was 

 returning once more, Mr. Dwight shot her to make the identification com- 

 plete. 



The nest, which was partly sunk in the surrounding moss, is made of 

 fine brown roots, bits of rotten wood, and the scaly coverings of buds, 

 apparently of the arbor-vitas, together with a few sticks and withered 

 leaves, and one or two bits of arbor-vit« and green moss. It is scantily 

 lined with very fine black roots and stalks of withered grass, the latter 

 contrasting strongly in color with the rest of the nest. Its external diam- 

 eter is four inches, its depth two and a quarter inches ; internally its 

 diameter is two and three eighths inches, its depth one and a quarter 

 inches. The ground color of the eggs is white, with a slight creamy tinge. 

 They are spotted and blotched with two shades of light-reddish brown, 

 mostly about the larger end. Two of the eggs have also a few fine dashes 

 and specks of black over the other markings. Their measurements are as 

 follows: — .68 X. 5 2, .68 X .52, .66 X .51, .66X.51. 



I did not find the second set until June 27. It was in a small piece of 

 damp woods, consisting of scattered arbor-vitjes and hemlocks growing in 

 the valley of a small brook. The nest was not far from a clearing, and 

 was among a tangled mass of fallen trees. It was situated about two feet 

 from the ground, on the side of the moss-covered stump of a fallen tree. 

 It was deeply sunk in the soft green moss, which covered and protected 

 it above, though the eggs could be seen from the outside. 



VOL. IV. 16 



