550 SCLATER AND SALVIN ON MEXICAN ORNITHOLOGY. [June 23, 
«I do not know that these birds ever make a complete nest ; but 
that they sometimes commence to build one I am certain. I once 
observed a flock of seven or eight Blackbirds busily flying to and from 
a clump of young giant thistles. On going to the spot, I found they 
had begun to build a large nest on a broad, horizontal leaf, very 
much exposed to sight. No other bird would have chosen such a 
frail foundation to build upon; for, however large and stiff these 
leaves are, they rapidly shrink up as the plant grows; and this one 
would certainly have dropped its burden within ten or fifteen days. 
The nest was made in a very slovenly manner, being composed of 
large sticks, rags, and other things, piled without any regularity ; 
the birds fluttered round as if anxious for its safety while I examined 
it, and resumed their work as soon as I withdrew; but after two 
days they suddenly forsook it. I have since observed another flock 
of Blackbirds begin a nest, in a poplar tree; but this was also left 
unfinished. 
«In autumn, when the Blackbirds congregate in flocks of tens of 
thousands, so that the ground where they feed seems carpeted with 
black, and the trees where they alight to have a black foliage, I 
often wonder that the little birds in whose nests they lay do not 
become extinct, or all but extinct, by their means. Though I have 
been familiar with this bird since I was a child, when I used to find 
its ‘lost and wasted eggs’ on the walks, and remove them in pity 
from the nests of little birds, I have not yet ceased to wonder at its 
habits. How strange that it should be so disorderly in the midst of 
the general order of nature! Or must we come to consider these 
habits of the Molothrus bonariensis ‘not as especially endowed or 
created instincts, but as small consequences of one general law,’ 
picks 
namely, transition ? « Truly yours, 
** WittiAmM H. Hupson.” 

The following papers were read :— 
1. On some recent Additions to the Avifauna of Mexico. 
By P. L. Scrater, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., and Osperr 
Sarvin, M.A., F.L.8., &c. 
A series of birdskins recently submitted to our examination by 
M. A. Boucard, of Paris, contains some examples of Mexican birds, 
obtained by one of his correspondents in Southern Mexico, which 
have not previously come under our notice in collections from that 
country. There are five species, concerning which we have the fol- 
lowing notes to communicate :— 
1. TurDUS FLAVIROSTRIS, Sw. 
An adult female of this fine Thrush from San Juan del Rio, a 
town in the centre of the state of Oaxaca. It appears to be a western 
species exclusively. 
