THE BLACK PHCEBE. 281 



ill an abandoned well, in a small cavity in the side, caused by a bowlder drop- 

 ping out, about 4 feet below the surface of the ground. It contained young, 

 nearly full grown, on April 24, 1872. Mr. W. E. D. Scott reports this species as 

 not uncomnaon in the Santa Catalina Mountains to an altitude of 4,000 feet. Dr. 

 Edgar A. Mearns, United States Army, informs me that he found a pair breed- 

 ing at the reservoir from which the town of Tombstone derives its water supply, 

 in Millers Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, southern Arizona, on July 31, 1894. 

 This is located in the Douglass spruce zone (Pseudotsuya taxifolia), at an altitude 

 of- -about 8,000 feet. I also met with the Black Phoebe in southwestern New 

 Mexico, on the Mimbres River, and Mr. William Lloyd gives it as a rare summer 

 visitor in Tom Green County, Texas, where he found it breeding on April 4. 

 Although a good many of these birds winter within our borders, even in locali- 

 ties where snow occasionally falls, the majority migrate south into Mexico in 

 October, and return again early in March. 



In its general habits the Black Phoebe resembles the common Phoebe more 

 than Say's; like the former, it is usually only found near water, and its call notes 

 are also very similar. Mud seems to enter largely into the construction of its 

 nests, and I believe is invariably used. These are located in similar situations to 

 those of the two preceding species. It is equally attached to a localitv once 

 chosen for a nesting site; and instances are recorded where four clutches of eggs 

 have been laid in one season, the three previously laid having been taken. Two 

 broods are generally reared in a year, and perhaps three. The exterior of the 

 nest consists of small pellets of mud mixed with bits of dry grass, weed fibers, 

 or hair, and somewhat resembles that of a Barn Swallow; the outer mud wall is 

 carried up to the rim. Inside it is lined with weed fibers, fine roots, strips of 

 bark, grass tops, hair, wool, and occasionally feathers. If their eggs are taken, 

 they generally lay another set within two weeks. A nest now before me, taken 

 by Mr. H. "W. Henshaw, at Santa Ysabel, California, on April 28, 1893, measures 

 5 inches in outer diameter and 3 J inches in height; the inner cup is 2| inches in 

 diameter and IJ inches in depth, and is lined with plant fibers and fine grass 

 tops. In the southern part of its breeding range nidification begins usually in 

 the first half of April, rarely before, and correspondingly later farther northward. 



The number of eggs to a set varies from three to six, usually four or five. 

 They resemble the eggs of the two preceding species in color, but generally 

 average a trifle smaller. Judging from those before me, the markings on the 

 spotted specimens are coarser and more pronounced, but the proportion of spot- 

 ted eggs is no greater. The eggs are generally ovate in shape. 



The average measurement of fifty-nine specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 18.73 by 14.36 millimetres, or about 0.74 by 0.57 

 inch. The largest eg^ of the series measures 20.32 by 15.24 millimetres, or 

 0.80 by 0.60 inch; the smallest, 17.78 by 13.21 millhnetres, or 0.70 by 0.52 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 20556 (PI. 1, Fig. 30), from a set of three eggs, 

 Bendire collection, was taken at Nicasio, California, May 5, 1877; this repre- 

 sents a well-spotted and average-sized specimen. 



