238 Girat Dotai. CA | 
the same spot to breed. An interesting feature in the habits of this species 
is the marked variation of their vocal powers. While some are remark- 
ably fine singers, others are very commonplace, or else too lazy to exer- 
cise their capabilities. — CHARLES C. Assott, M. D., Trenton, N. J. 
FLOWERS OF THE GOLDEN CURRANT PERFORATED BY HUMBLE- 
BEES. — In Part 7 of Half-Hours with Insects, page 202, it is stated 
that the first and only instance known in this country of the curious trait 
of the humblebees of perforating the corollas of flowers to get the honey 
is given by Mr. W. W. Bailey in THE American NATURALIST, 1873. 
Last spring a cluster of Ribes aureum growing in my dooryard was 
visited by humblebees, and I noticed that they always extracted the 
honey through perforations in the bases of the calyces made by their 
mandibles. When atleast three fourths of the flowers had been despoiled 
in this way, so great was their dexterity that seven flowers per minute 
were found bitten open and robbed of their honey. The same was no- 
ticed by Mr. Struthers, of Fort Atkinson, on the flowers of Robinia pseu- 
dacacia, in 1863. — W. F. Bunpy. 
Hasits or Western Birps.— As we encamped on Antelope Creek, 
Nevada, May 28th, I at once proceeded to procure specimens, and in fol- 
lowing up the stream a short distance I came upon a thicket of willows, 
in which I found a large nest, occupied by one of the parent birds. 
After securing the bird, which proved to be the female of Buteo Swain- 
soni, and crawling up to the nest for the eggs, I noticed a slight commo- 
tion amongst the leaves but a short distance away, which upon exam- 
ination proved to have been caused by a pair of Bullock’s orioles (Jeterus 
Bullockii), which were also breeding. Both of these nests were about 
twelve feet from the ground, only eight feet apart, and unprotected from 
above, by the absence of any branches or leaves. The orioles had cer- 
tainly built in a dangerous locality, and must have been entirely unmo- 
lested by the hawks, as the eggs in both nests were far advanced in in- 
cubation. ; 
Later in the season (August) we camped at Big Pines, Owens Valley, 
Cal., where we saw great numbers of humming-birds flying around the 
tops of the pine-trees. Towards evening some were seen near the 
ground, and after watching them very closely for a while I saw one _ 
alight close by, which soon after flew to its nest. The nest was built 
upon a small cottonwood branch, exactly over and but about two feet 
above a perfect torrent of water rising in the glacial summit of the 
Sierra Nevadas. The species (as Professor Baird has since informed 
me) was Stellula Caliope. The nest, eggs, and skins, with those above 
referred to, are now at the Smithsonian Institution, together with the 
general collections. 
In the December number of the Naturatist for 1873, Mr. Allen 
answers Dr. Barrett (?) in reference to the supposed geographical “ dis- 
tribution,” or rather range, of the crow and raven. As he says, they are 
