48 
Recent Literature, 
hours, in the oviduct. The latter was unfortunately broken by a 
shot ; the fragments of the shell were pure white and unspotted. 
The nest * is placed on the ground in a slight hollow scratched by 
the birds. It is exceedingly hard to find, as the sitting female 
when approached steals silently away under cover of the surround- 
ing vegetation, and if seen at all is likely to be mistaken for a star- 
tled mouse. The occurrence of two nests with young in July, 
1878, near Point Reyes, communicated to Mr. Allen by Mr. T. H. 
Estey, seems to indicate that a second brood may be sometimes 
raised. The food of these Sparrows apparently consists largely of 
grubs and a certain green worm that infests the bushes among 
which they live. At least, this is the case during the breeding sea- 
son, when Mr. Allen has repeatedly seen the parent birds carrying 
these worms to their voung. In the autumn the Rufous-crowned 
Sparrows are to be found in straggling groups composed of two or 
three individuals. They all depart for the ^outh. before the winter 
season sets in. 
lUmtt iLitiratur*. 
Lawrence and Obeii on the Birds of Dominica and St. 
Vincent. — The important explorations by Mr. F. A. Ober in some of 
the smaller West India Islands (Lesser Antilles) have been rich in inter- 
esting results relating to birds. The collections and observations made 
by Mr. Ober have been made the basis of several recent papers by Mr. 
George N. Lawrence, in wliiclvno less than fourteen species supposed to be 
new have been described.! Mr. Lawrence has also prepared special lists 
of the birds obtained by Mr. Ober at two of the principal localities ex- 
* For a description of the nest and eggs of this species see Vol. II, p. 37, of 
this Bulletin. Mr. Allen assures me that all uncertainty as to the correct iden- 
tification of the specimens there described has been removed by his subsequent 
investigations in the same locality. Not only have similar nests been found, 
but Peuecea ruficeps is ascertained to be the only bird of any species that breeds 
on that portion of Black Mountain. 
t 1. Descriptions of New Species of Birds from the Island of Dominica. 
By George N. Lawrence. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Yol. I, pp. 46-49. (Spp. nov. 
Thryothorus rufescens , Dendrceca phimbea, Myiarchus oberi.) 
2. Descriptions of Seven New Species of Birds from the Island of St. Vincent, 
West Indies. By George N. Lawrence. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Yol. I, pp. 
147-153. June, 1878. (Spp. nov. Turdus nigrirostris, Myiadjstes sibilans, 
