Merrill’s Oological Notes from Montcuza. 
205 
specimen described was found by Captain Bendire in Oregon ; it was 
white, “ moderately spotted and blotched with pale reddish-brown, but 
not thickly.” Mr. Belding, w r ho found three nests, was the first to describe 
the eggs as white.* A fifth nest is recorded by Mr. Scott ;f and Dr. 
Brewer describes§ a set of seven eggs, six of which are pure unspotted 
chalky white, the seventh being “marked over its entire surface with fine 
rounded dots of reddish-brown.” 
A nest found June 18 was in a fire-killed pine at a height of about six- 
teen feet. A knothole had been cleared out and the soft decayed wood 
removed to a depth of four inches, the hardness of the surrounding wood 
preventing a deeper excavation. On a warm felted bed of various soft 
materials were five or six recently hatched youngand an addled egg. The 
latter measures .58X.48 and is a dull unspotted chalky white, only slightly 
pointed at the smaller end. While examining the nest the parents were 
very bold, perching on a branch within a foot of my head and scolding 
vigorously. 
Dendroeca audiiboni (Towns.) Baird . — Breeding rather abundantly 
in the Big Horn Mountains but only one nest was found. Several descrip- 
tions of the eggs of the Western Yellow-rump have recently appeared, 
and its breeding habits are now fairly well known. My nest was found 
on the 17th of June in a young pine tree growing on the top of a ridge at 
the edge of a deep canon, at an elevation of 6,500 feet. It was about seven 
feet from the ground and placed against the main trunk, supported by and 
partly saddled upon two twigs. It is large for the size of the bird, 
measuring 4X4 inches: internally iiXif. Externally it is composed 
of many small twigs and fine strips of bark ; within this is a thick wall 
of well matted strips of a weed and of bark and pine needles. The inner 
lining consists of fine fibrous roots and hairs, with a feather or two. 
The most curious feature of the nest is a circle of feathers of Richardson’s 
Grouse attached to the rim for nearly the entire circumference, a small 
bare space being left which was apparently used by the bird on entering. 
These feathers are fastened to the rim by the larger ends and are directed 
upwards and inwards forming a sort of canopy which completely hid the 
female while sitting. The appearance is very peculiar and quite unlike 
anything I have seen, for this use of the feathers is evidently intentional 
and is very different from what is seen in nests with a lining of loose 
feathers in which the bird sinks nearly out of sight. One egg was broken ; 
the other four, far advanced in incubation, average .68X.53. The ground 
color is a decidedly greenish-white, sparingly marked over the entire 
surface with smalhspots and dots of black, brown, and lavender, the latter 
predominating, and form an irregular wreath around the larger end. 
Junco annectens, Baird . — Rather common in the mountains, but only 
at a considerable height and among the pine trees. A nest taken June 13 
* Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., I, 400. 
f Bull. Nutt. O. C., IV, 92. 
§ lb., V, 47. 
