MICROSCOPY. 809 
gently I was unable to find the nest. I am aware that there have 
been several nests found in eastern Massachusetts, though this 
must certainly be its most southern breeding range. 
I have thought the species must leave us on their southern mi- 
gration by the first of September, though I saw one specimen at 
Moosehead Lake, Maine, as late as the Ist of Oct., 1873, at which 
period the weather was quite cold, water freezing round our camp 
most every night.—Rurnven Deane, Cambridge, Mass. 
Tue Ottve-sipep Fiycatcner.—At the close of an article on 
Contopus borealis, which appeared in the December number of the 
Naturatisr (page 750), I made the inquiry ‘‘ Has this species ever 
been obtained in Massachusetts before?” Since then I have as- 
certained that specimens of it have been collected in eastern 
Massachusetts by Mr. C. J. Maynard, Wm. Brewster, Esq. and 
others, and that it occasionally breeds within the state. 
In addition to the note previously described, Mr. Nuttall said: 
“ The female had a whistling, oft-repeated, whining call of ’pu "pu, 
then varied to pù ’pip, and ’pip ’pu, also at times ’pip "pip ’pu, 
pip’ pip pip, "pit pir pip, or tù ’tù tù, and tù ’tu. The male, 
besides this note, had, at long intervals, a call of seh ’phebeé or 
h ’phedéd.” It is such a difficult undertaking to represent accu- 
rately the note of a bird by means of letters, that no two persons 
describe that of the same species by the same characters, although 
when pronounced, the syllables generally give the same sound. 
Thus Mr. Nuttall’s call of ’h ’phebéd is undoubtedly the same as 
that described by myself as O whéd. His imitation of the note of 
the female bird is most excellent: I have heard it many times and 
omitted giving it only because I neglected to write it down while 
in the field, and it will never do to trust to memory for such 
matters.— C. HART MERRIAM. 
MICROSCOPY. 
On tHe Srructure or Draroms.— Tt is hoped that the publica- 
tion of the following memoranda will serve the double purpose of 
elucidating the structure of the tests, and at the same time de- 
monstrating the utility of microscopical objectives of exceptionally 
high powers. The uncertainty of the footing in this unstable and 
Contested ground will necessitate many errors, and may serye as 
