Breeding of the Evening Grosbeak ( Coccot/iraustes vespertina ) in the 
White Mountains of Arizona. — In ‘The Auk’ (Vol. IV. No. 3, p. 
256, 257) I observed two notices of the occurrence of the Evening 
Grosbeak ; one from Toronto, Canada, the other from Hickman, Kentucky. 
In the latter case Mr. J. A. Allen is quoted as stating that “its occurrence 
anywhere south of the Great Lakes is rare.” It may, therefore, be of in- 
terest to readers of “The Auk” to know of an instance of this bird having 
bred as far southwest as the head-waters of the Little Colorado River in 
the White Mountains of Arizona. 
On June 5, 1884, while looking out for anything of ornithological inter- 
est in a thickly wooded canon some fifteen miles west of the little town of 
Springerville, Apache County, Arizona, my attention was attracted by a 
bird which I did not know, flying off its nest in the top of a thick willow 
bush. Having climbed up to the nest and ascertained that it contained 
three eggs I returned to the ranch. Next day I visited the cation with my 
shotgun, and finding that the number of eggs in the nest had not in- 
creased, concealed myself close by, and after a long wait succeeded in 
procuring the female as she flew from the nest. At that time I knew so 
little about American birds or their eggs that I took no eggs except 
when I could authenticate them by procuring the female bird. 
The nest was a comparatively slight structure, rather flat in shape, 
composed of small sticks and roots, lined with finer portions of the latter. 
The eggs, three in number, were of a clear, greenish ground color, blotched 
with pale brown. They were fresh. The nest was placed about fifteen 
feet from the ground in the extreme top of a thick willow bush. The 
slight canon, with a few willow bushes in its centre bordering a small 
stream, lies in the midst of very dense pine timber at an altitude of about 
7000 feet, as far as I can judge. 
I mentioned the fact of my having taken the nest of the Evening Gros- 
beak to my friend, Mr. E. W. Nelson, but at first he was decidedly 
sceptical on the subject. On November 5, 1885, however, while staying 
at Mr. Nelson’s ranch, eight miles southwest of Springerville, and during 
a slight snowstorm, I saw a second specimen of this species among a large 
number of Mexican Crossbills ( Loxia curvirostra stricklandt) but failed 
to kill it. Next day (Nov. 6), while riding near the same place with Mr. 
Nelson, we came upon three Evening Grosbeaks, and after several shots 
he succeeded in killing a fine male with a charge of bucksnot! These 
are the only occasions that I have known of this bird being seen any- 
where around here, but ornithological observers here are few and far 
between. — John Swinburne, Springerville , Arizona. 
[Mr. Swinburne is probably the first ornithologist who has had the 
good fortune to find the nest of this species, although Mr. W, E. Bryant’s 
later discovery has already been recorded.* — E d.] 
* Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. Vol. IT, 1887. 
Auk, Y. Jan. 1888. p. //?'/?. 
