'^^•^•^ . General Notes. 2.'lQi 



General Jot^s. 



The Willow Thrush and Holboll's Linnet in Illinois. —Mr. Ridg- 



waj identifies mj No. 1568 as Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola (lately de- 

 scribed by him in Vol. IV, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.). It was shot in a wil- 

 low tree in my yard, Sept. 16, 1877. It sat silent and motionless. The 

 sexual organs were not distinguishable, having apparently been destroyed 

 by a small white worm found in their place. (This is not the first instance 

 I have noted of birds, /a r /row their usual habitat, having this white 

 worm gnawing at their vitals. May this not account for their straggling 

 off.?) Mr. Ridgway also identifies No. 41^8, $ , as ySg-iothus linaria hol- 

 boelli, which was shot in this city by Mr. Geo. F. Clingman, Nov. 

 2, 1878.— H. K. CoALE, Chicago, Ills. 



Nest and Eggs of Myiadestes townsendi.— These being not yet 

 well-known, an account of a recent find may be interesting. The speci- . 

 mens, accompanied by a skin, were presented to me by Mr. Wm. G. Smith, 

 of Buifalo Creek, Jefferson County, Colorado, where they were taken. 

 Mr. Smith writes : "The nest I found on June 18, 1883, in the end of a 

 lai-ge hollow fallen log; it was about three feet off the ground and about 

 one foot from the end of the log. The loose material sent with it was 

 placed on the outer side to keep it level. The female was sitting, and I 

 approached within a few feet before she flew off. As there was a Steller's 

 Jay close by, I thought it prudent to take the eggs at once. I put two 

 Brewer's Blackbird's eggs in the nest, and . the parent bird took to them as 

 soon as I moved off a few yards. Two days afterward the egg-shells lay 

 upon the ground, most likely the work of the Jay, as I have often known 

 this bird to do. The locality was the side of a rather high hill." 



The foundation of this nest -is a great quantity of trash, including some 

 bits of stick as thick as one's little finger. Upon this rests the nest prop- 

 er, constructed chiefly of pine needles, grasses and disintegrated weed- 

 stalks — the whole loose and slovenly, hardly to be handled without coming 

 to pieces, without any well-defined brim or very regular circular disposi- 

 tion of the material. The nest is about six inches across outside ; its 

 depth cannot be given, as it merges into the trash of the foundation ; the 

 cavity is quite shallow. As sent to me, the whole structure fits pretty 

 closely in a box 10 X 7 X 4 inches. 



The two eggs differ from each other in color as much as those of the 

 Song Sparrow might, and not distantly resemble Song Sparrow's eggs. 

 The ground is dull white; in one case wreathed about the butt, and else- 

 where sparcely sprinkled with dull reddish-brown surface-markings and 

 shell-spots duller still ; in the other sample so heavil y marked all over 

 with a brighter and more chocolate brown that the ground-color scarcely 

 appears. Neither is noticeable in shape: the size is about 0.95x0.70. — 

 Elliott Coues, Washingto7i, D. C. 



