General Notes. 
1 T 9 
These birds, in the dry atmosphere of the sterile plains, take the place 
of the Vultures, the great scavengers of the lower, more moist, and. fertile 
portions of our country, and are therefore looked upon as friends, and 
not being hunted or disturbed are quite bold and easy of approach, and I 
had no difficulty in shooting all the specimens I wanted. I noticed, how- 
ever, before I left, they began to keep well out of gunshot. 
The following are the measurements of a pair of mounted birds in my 
collection shot at San Marcial, November 28 and 30, 1880. 
$ Length, 21.00; extent, 43.00; wing, 14.25; tail, 8.50; tarsus, 2.35 ; 
bill, 2.10. 
$ Length, 19.75; extent, 41.00; wing, 13.60; tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.30; 
bill, 2.20. 
Iris very dark brown ; bill, legs, feet and claws, black. 
The males are nearly as large as the females of C. corax, but readily 
distinguishable from that species by their more slender build ; and in flight 
their wings appear less rounded. — N. S. Goss, Neosho Falls , Kansas. 
Remarkable Persistency in Nesting of the Western Yellow- 
bellied Flycatcher. — A pair of these birds {Emfiidoiiax difficilis ) 
have been in the habit of nesting every year in the shed covering my 
tanks, which are in the woods some distance back of my house. The 
birds appeared as usual about the middle of last April and commenced 
building about the 28th of the month. On the 15th of May the nest con- 
tained four eggs and I took it. The birds lost no time bewailing their loss 
but immediately commenced another nest, but on a different beam from 
the first one. By the 28th of the month they had this nest finished and 
four eggs in it. I took this one also. Next day the birds commenced 
again, on yet another beam. On the 5th of June this third nest was fin- 
ished and on the 10th contained jive eggs, this being the only time that I 
ever found five eggs in a nest of these birds. Both for the sake of such an 
unusual set and to see how long the birds would keep on nesting I took 
this also. Not a bit discouraged, the birds began a fourth nest, and on the 
22nd this nest contained four more eggs. I took these thinking the birds 
would go somewhere else this time. But, no ; they started a fifth nest 
which, on the 6th of July, had four eggs in it, making five nests and twenty- 
one eggs by the same pair of birds in a little over two months. On taking 
this nest the birds left and I do not know whether they built again or not. 
Probably not, as they generally leave the country about that time. 
This same persistency was shown at the same time by a pair of Black 
Pewees ( Sayornis nigricans ) which built twice under the eaves of the 
house, once under a bridge close by, and a fourth time under the eaves of 
the house. This last time they hatched out the brood, as I neglected to 
take the nest until too late to save the eggs.— Joseph Mailliard, Nicasio , 
Marin Co., Cal. 
Notes on the Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker and Can- 
ada Jay. — On the 9th of May last while crossing the high open pine 
