General Notes. 
51 
month in which this nest was built March instead of April. As so little 
is known on this subject even now, twenty-eight years and more since the 
date of this letter, it seems certainly of sufficient value to be placed on 
record. Mr. Paine’s notes are as follows : — 
“ Since I last wrote you I have seen some interesting sights among the 
feathered tribes. The Crossbills have been the centres of attraction with 
me. A few days after I received your letter of March 15, I saw a pair 
of these birds alight upon a tree by my brother’s door, the female upon an 
old Yellow-bird’s ( C . tristis ) nest, plucking the lining therefrom, and, to- 
gether with her mate, flying off in the direction of the woods. I therefore 
concluded that they must be building a nest. Soon after I shot a pair, 
the female of which had eggs half grown. And now, only four days ago, 
I was in the woods heading in some trees to transplant, when I heard the 
sharp notes of the Crossbills. They approached to where I was, and the 
female alighted on the ground, not more than a rod from me, and began 
pulling on some fibrous roots where I had taken up a tree. I watched her 
as she flew and saw her alight upon a tall elm, only a few rods from me, 
and there she deposited her building materials, in the crotch of a limb 
near the body of the tree. I saw her busy collecting stuff* for her nest for 
some time, all of which she carried to the same spot. I returned to the 
place the next day and found them still at their labors. The third day I 
found the female engaged in carrying strips of birch-bark to her nest, and 
I could see that the structure was about completed, and in the course of 
the week, if nothing disturbs them, I shall have their eggs. The male did 
not join in the work, but usually accompanied his mate in her excursions, 
but would sometimes remain on the elm and chant forth a few notes. 
The books all say that these birds always build in evergreen trees, but it 
seems that they do not always do .so. I never in all my life saw birds that 
seemed so much attached to one another. The pair I shot a few days ago 
were about my barn. When I shot one, the other remained, and would 
not leave its mate. I shot at her without effect and she flew away, but, 
finding her mate did not follow, she returned to the spot, and I shot 
her and have skinned and stuffed this loving pair, and will send them to 
you in a few days.” — T. M. Brewer, Boston , Mass. 
Coturniculus lecontei. — In a “ List of Birds observed at Coosada, 
Central Alabama,” by Mr. N. C. Brown, (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. IV, 
No. 1, p. 8, January, 1879,) the capture of Coturniculus lecontei at the 
above-named locality is recorded, with the remark that it (C. lecontei ), “ if 
I am not mistaken, has never before been detected east of the Missis- 
sippi River.” If Mr. Brown will refer to my paper upon the “ Birds of 
Northeastern Illinois” (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII, April, 1877, p. 106), 
he will see that I there record the capture of this species east of the 
Mississippi upon the strength of a specimen taken at Riverdale, 111., May 
13, 1875. — E. W. Nelson, St. Michael's , Alaska. 
