1SS3.] Holterhoff on Nest and Eggs of LeConte's Thrasher. Z|_C) 
at the foot of a bush, would disappear for a time within its bran- 
ches, then emerging suddenly near the top, pause for an instant as 
if to see if the coast was clear, and then resume its short ungrace- 
► ful flight. Being about the only bird seen for some little time, I 
sat down in the shade of a mesquite to watch its course and 
movements. After a series of short progressions it disappeared 
in a thick palo-verde tree and there remained so long that I be- 
came suspicious, and, cautiously approaching, had the satisfaction 
of seeing it at home. I paused, breathlessly, but not before the 
shy denizen had seen my approach, and, silently dropping from 
her abode, had flown into a neighboring bush. I eagerly examined 
the nest, found it contained two eggs, and then withdrew to my 
former concealment to await the owner’s reappearance. This 
was not immediate, for it seemed shy of returning, and when at 
last it did so, it was by a round-about course as if wishing to di- 
vert attention from the nest. Alighting again in the palo-verde, 
it paused for an instant on a lower branch, and that instant suf- 
ficed to end its earthly career. Securing my prizes, I loitered 
around the neighborhood for some time, hoping in vain to see the 
mate ; but if present it skulked so closelv within the thickets as 
to evade detection. 
The nest, situated about five feet from the ground, was a very 
bulky affair, set so loosely and carelessly amid the branches that a 
considerable foundation had been thrown together before the 
structure was firm enough to bear the nest proper. This was 
composed of the thorny sticks and twigs of mesquite, loosely 
intercrossed, and the interior rather neatly lined with reddish 
fibres and rootlets. The external dimensions were about nine 
inches in depth and six inches in width at the top ; interior, depth 
three' inches and width about four inches. The cavity was deep 
enough to conceal the sitting bird, except as to its projecting tail. 
The two eggs were fresh and presumably an incomplete clutch. 
They are of a light pea-green color, sparsely marked with fine 
reddish specks, most thickly at the larger end. In shape they 
are elongate and tapering, more so than those of allied species, 
and they come nearer to those of H. cui'virostris than any other 
species as yet compared. They measure respectively 1.17 by 
0.78 inches and 1.13 by 0.77 inches. This bird was the only 
one of the species met with, and no other nests, old or new, were 
seen in this locality or elsewhere in the Desert. 
