Mar., 1910 
HABITS OF THE BLACK-CAPT VIREO 
73 
draw up the fiber a little at a time, turning her head from side to side, as if study- 
ing her work, and then secure it. 
A nest collected measures as follows: Outside diameter 57 mm., inside 
diameter 43, outside depth, 65, inside depth 41. The diameter of the rim of the 
nest is distinctly less than that of the inside of the nest at its greatest 
width. On one occasion a nest was found to be empty on the evening of May 24 
and contained two eggs at noon on the twenty-sixth. 
Average measurements in millimeters of a small series are as follows: 
Thirteen adult males from Kansas and 
Length Wing 
Tail 
Culmen 
Tarsus 
Oklahoma 
109.5 56.2 
43.4 
9.4 
16.6 
Three adult females from Oklahoma 
108.2 54.1 
43.0 
9.1 
16.0 
THE NESTING OF THE FRAZAR OYSTER-CATCHER 
By PINGREE I. OSBURN 
O N EASTER Sunday, April 11 1909, while lying at anchor off Cape Corrien- 
tes, State of Jalisco, Mexico, Mr. Thompson, a friend, brought me the news 
that he had found the Frazar Oyster-catcher ( Hacmatopus frazari ) nesting on 
one of the islands we were visiting. This group of islands, known as the Tres 
Marietas group, is unusually far south for this bird to be found breeding, but the news 
was not surprising to me as I had noticed individuals of this species flying along 
the rocky coast on several different occasions. 
Upon inquiry and investigation I found that the nest was on the pebbly beach 
about fifteen feet from the high water mark, back in a sheltered recess under a low 
overhanging cliff. It was unlined, except for a few bits of shell and consisted of a 
mere depression in the pebbles. The eggs were fresh, but thru the carelessness 
of a Mexican sailor I was able to save but one. They were finely markt specimens. 
An example before me is light cream buff in ground color, and is irregularly spotted 
and blotcht with varying shades of brown, lavender, and pale pearl grey, princi- 
pally at the larger end. It is oval in shape, with one end pointed, and measures 
2.21X1 .50. It has a smooth texture. 
The birds were extremely wild, like most of their kind, and were approach! 
with difficulty. I made several efforts before they were finally secured. Two other 
birds were seen on this island but a thoro search failed to reveal their nest. 
The two birds belonging to the set described are clothed in conspicuous black 
and white, the white areas being more extensive in this pair than in birds of 
this species taken off the coast of Lower California, far to the north. Unfortunate- 
ly no photographs were secured, as the eggs were disturbed before I heard of their 
discovery. 
It is interesting to note the great difference between the nesting sites used by 
these birds and the Black Oyster-catcher described by Mr. Willett in his article in 
the November Condor. 
The references available to me at this time, tho somewhat limited, are all simi- . 
lar in their statements, and give the breeding range of this species as “both coasts 
of Lower California’’. The peninsula of Lower California is several hundred miles 
north and west of the Tres Marietas Islands, and at this extreme south latitude even 
individual birds of the species are a comparative rarity, I believe. 
