186 
British Museum; data with set but no other notes 
preserved. <A set of three eggs taken in March, 
1886; eggs and data sent to Mr. Wm. Brewster, 
Cambridge, Mass. Nest sent to British Museum. 
A nest taken in May, 1886, without eggs, and 
sent to Mr. Brewster.” 
The above is what Mr. F. Stephens has fur- 
nished me, and records the capture of nine sets— 
one of which (No. 2,) is defective. The follow- 
ing is from the note book of Mr. R. B. Herron, 
and brings the number of sets up to eighteen : 
“ First nest taken in May, 1881, near Cabazon, 
Cala., and contained four eggs. Next found a 
nest May 14, 1883, containing three birds almost 
ready to leave the nest. Also on same day saw a 
pair of birds building a nest that was almost com- 
pleted, the eggs of which I got a few days later. 
This set was sent to Mr. Oliver Davie, Columbus, 
Ohio. 
“Again on April 10, 1885, I found a nest con- 
taining three eggs, and on June 5, 1885, I found 
three nests of this rare bird. The first of these 
contained two young birds nearly ready to leave 
the nest, and one addled egg. The second nest 
contained four eggs that were on the point of 
hatching, and the third nest contained four fresh 
eggs which I secured. Two or three other sets 
taken during April and May, 1885, and of which 
I have retained no data were sent to Southwick 
& Jencks, Providence, R. I.” 
Mr. Herron’s observations of the habits of these 
birds are of so much interest that I give them in 
addition to those already recorded by Mr. 
Stephens. He says: ‘‘All the nests of this bird 
that I have examined were placed near the centre 
of a thick challa cactus, from one to three feet 
from the ground. They are rather large and 
bulky affairs, caused by the loose external frame- 
work or skeleton nest made of coarse twigs, in 
the centre of which is placed the nest proper. 
This is composed of a very thick matting of a 
fine woolly plant which grows about one inch 
high, and which is pulled up entire by the birds. 
This is firmly pressed together, and makes a very 
warm and soft nest in the midst of so many 
thorns. The cavity is quite deep, so that the 
bird is well concealed when sitting. They are 
close sitters, and at times will allow the nest to 
be gently poked with the muzzle of your gun 
before they will leave it; but when they have 
once left the nest and reached the ground, after a 
short low flight, their movements and actions at 
once become both shy and rapid; and if wanted 
they should be shot at the first opportunity, for 
if pursued they at once disappear among the 
cactus, or at least keep out of gun range. At 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 12 

other times after leaving the nest they will run 
off a few yards, and if not pressed will hop to the 
top of a bush and utter a loud, clear whistling 
note, (similar to that of a man whistling fora 
dog,) which will soon be answered by the mate 
who immediately comes to see what is the 
matter.” 
Both male and female assist in building and in- 
cubating. Mr. Herron in speaking of the nesting 
period, says: “The season of nesting of this 
bird is a very long one, as I have killed young 
birds during the first weck of April that had 
been out of the nest at least ten days, they being 
almost fully feathered. This would show that 
some at least commenced laying some time in 
February.” 
In The Auk for July, 1886, Dr. Mearns de- 
scribed a nest and set of three eggs which he took 
in Arizona. 
The first eggs of this bird, and in fact the first 
description of their nesting habits that was pub- 
lished, appeared in The American Naturalist, 
Vol. XV., No. 8, March, 1881, page 211. Mr. E. 
Holterhaff, Jr., was the fortunate discoverer, and 
I wish that he could have given a more detailed 
account of the type set. His nest was found in 
July, 1880, at Flowing Wells, in the Colorado 
Desert, California. The nest was placed in a 
palo verde tree and was a large and bulky affair, 
measuring externally nine inches in depth, and 
six inches in width. The hollow of the nest was 
fully three inches in depth, and it contained two 
eggs ‘‘that were somewhat smaller than the Cali- 
fornian Thrasher (Harporhynchus redivivus), light- 
er in color, and marked all over with finer red- 
dish spots, thicker at the larger end.” 
This completes, so far as I can ascertain, a list 
of all the authentic sets that have been taken. 
A set of four fresh eggs taken by Mr. Herron 
on June 5, 1885, as detailed above, is now in the 
collection of the present writer, and the following 
is a description of each egg separately: 
No. 1 measures 1.11x.75. Very light and deli- 
vate greenish-blue; in shape elongated oval, and 
tapering to a decided point, much more so than 
in Palmer's Thrasher (ZZ. ¢. palmerz), and equal 
to the most pointed examples of Curve-billed 
Thrasher (7H. curvirostris). The spotting is en- 
tirely of reddish-brown, sparingly displayed but 
forming a well-defined wreath around the greater 
end of the egg. These spots, or rather minute 
dots of reddish-brown, are distributed over the 
entire egg, quite sparingly toward the lesser end, 
but they are not nearly as numerous as in eggs of 
Curve-billed Thrasher, and in fact could easily be 
counted. 
