Feb., 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



21 



roots and grasses, lined with fine grass and 

 a very few horse hairs. Is a very flimsy 

 affair. Outer diameter 3J inches, height 

 If inches, inner diameter If inches, depth 

 1J inches. These beautiful little warblers 

 abound in the willow thickets, but finding 

 a nest with eggs, unless by accident, is next 

 to impossible. 



Audubon's Warbler {Dendroeca audu- 

 boiii.) July 17, five young birds. Nest on 

 end of a pine bough, 12 feet from the 

 ground. Watched the parents make sev- 

 eral trips to the nest, and then climbed v^> 

 to take a look at the young ones, when they 

 scrambled out of the nest and fluttered 

 down to the ground. I took the nest and 

 descended and caught one of them. At 

 this the parents began fluttering round 

 with wings and tail spread, uttering sharp 

 cries, much after the fashion of a Spotted 

 Sandpiper. Nest of pieces of twine, soft 

 outer covering of plants, rootlets and a 

 very little hair, lined with horsetail and a 

 few feathers. Outer diameter 4 inches, 

 height 2^ inches, inner diameter 2^ inches, 

 depth 2 inches. 



Clarke's Nutcracker {P. columbianus.) 

 July 18, while at St. Louis, I saw for the 

 first time a small band of these birds, and 

 obtained a fine pair. During the past two 

 weeks, I have taken about a dozen more 

 from a flock of about thirty that have 

 rounded up at a mine boarding house a 

 short distance from here. At this place 

 they are as tame and familiar as Carolina 

 Doves around a western farm-house. They 

 have a variety of notes, all of which have 

 the crow twang. 



Lincoln's Sparrow (M. lincohii.) Is a 

 common bird in the thickets, but they are 

 seldom seen in the breeding season, as they 

 are very shy. On being started they in- 

 stantly seek shelter. I have not found 

 their nests. 



Rocky Mountain Hermit Thrush {H. 

 unalascce audubon i. ) July 15, 1 set 3 eggs, 

 incubated 6 or 7 days, Nest in small pine, 

 five feet from ground, a few feet from edge 



of heavy timber. Parent glided off the 

 nest and out of sight without a note. 

 Nest, a slight base, and sides of twigs and 

 coarse grass stems, within a compact wall 

 f inch thick, of green moss woven in with 

 fine straw and rootlets. It is the most 

 solid nest I ever saw, for one made without 

 mud. Outer diameter 5^ inches, height 3i 

 inchesi inner diameter 2^- inches, depth 2 

 inches. Eggs uniform light greenish blue, 

 .66X.85, -65X-83, .66X.88 



Cassin's Purple Finch (C. cassini.) 

 July 28 I noticed for the first time a pair 

 of adults and four young, hopping about 

 the street in front of the store. Since then 

 I have seen them a number of times in 

 about the same place. — D. D. Stone, Han- 

 cock, Colorado. 



Note. — The eggs of Brewer's Blackbird and Long- 

 crested Jay, referred to in Part I of these notes (IS p. 9) 

 were taken at Bnena Vista. Hancock is about 1,800 feet 

 higher than Buena Vista and neither of these birds are 

 found at the former place in the breeding season. Long- 

 crested Jay ranges higher than Brewer's Blackbird. — D. 

 D. S. 



Bird Migration. 



The Committee of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union who have this work in 

 hand, met in New York on Dec. 17, and 

 agreed upon a plan of operations, the de- 

 tails of which are given by the Chairman 

 of the Committee, Dr. Merriam, in a cir- 

 cular. He says: "The work will not be 

 limited to the accumulation of records of 

 the times of arrival and dejsarture of the 

 different species, but will embrace the col- 

 lection of all data that may aid in deter- 

 mining the causes which influence the 

 progress of migration from season to sea- 

 son. For the purpose of rendering the 

 result of the season's work as full and 

 valuable as possible, the Committee ear- 

 nestly solicits the co-operation of every 

 ornithologist, field collector, sportsman 

 and observer of nature in North America." 



For convenience in collecting and ar 

 ranging the material which it is expected 

 will be accumulated by the observers, the 



