Brewster on a Collection of Arizona Birds. 73 
where sharply defined ; in palmeri the outer rectrices are, at the most, 
barely tipped with pale brown, which either extends squarely across 
both webs, or fades insensibly into the darker color of the feather. The 
bill of aimer i, also, is usually longer and more curved than that of 
curvirostris. 
8. Harporhynchus lecontei Bonaft. Leconte’s Thrash- 
er. — The great rarity of Leconte’s Thrasher, even in the heart 
of the desolate regions where alone it has so far been found, is 
still further attested by Mr. Stephens’ experience during the past 
season, for although he searched for it carefully in all suitable 
places between Camp Lowell and Riverside (California), he 
met with only two individuals. These occurred about fifteen 
miles west of Maricopa, Arizona, in a locality which the accom- 
panying notes describe as follows : “Near the middle of ‘ Forty- 
five-mile Desert,’ between Maricopa Wells and Gila Bend. No 
chollas or other cactuses in the immediate neighborhood, but some 
giant cactuses about a mile away in the hills ; a few mesquites and 
much scattering low brush in the vicinity; nearest water 
twenty miles away.” 
Dr. Cooper is said to have found the species “rather common’’ 
in the desert between Fort Mohave and the San Bernardino 
Mountains, California, but Mr. Stephens has thrice traversed this 
route without seeing a single specimen. In a recent number* of 
the American Naturalist, however, Mr. E. Holterhoflf, Jr., speaks 
of seeing the bird “on the Colorado desert, at a station called 
Flowing Wells,” and gives an interesting description of a 
nest and set of eggs taken there. “The nest was placed in a 
palo verde tree, and was a very bulky affair, measuring externally 
nine inches in depth and six in width ; the hollow of the nest was 
fully three inches in depth. It was so awkwardly situated that 
much of the base of the nest had evidently been filled in to 
firmly support the structure. The two eggs were somewhat 
smaller than those of H. redivivus , lighter in color, and marked 
all over with finer reddish spots, thicker at the larger end.” 
I am inclined to consider the Maricopa specimens above referred to as 
adults, although this is not so clear in the case of the male, portions of 
whose plumage suggest that of a young bird. Both are in worn, ragged 
condition, but there is no indication of any moult, save upon the wings 
and tail, where many of the feathers have been replaced by new ones 
which are conspicuous among the others by their fresher coloring. 
* Vol. XV, No. 3, March, 1881. 
