118 Letters) Announcements^ ^c. 
green_, and is generally quite distinctly to be seen_, as tbe 
small blotches of reddish- and golden-brown_, with which the i 
whole surface is pretty equally and uniformly marked, are ^ 
nowhere confluent or even numerous. These eggs very 
closely resemble the very lightly marked varieties of Z. alhi- 
colliSy but are smaller and in their shape more spheroidal. 
The nest has an outer diameter of 5 inches, a height of 3 
inches; and its cavity is inches deep, with a diameter of 
the same dimensions at the rim. The base and periphery of 
the nest form a loosely interwoven mass of thin strips of bark, 
skeleton leaves, and coarse stalks and stems of plants. It is 
very thoroughly lined with flne wiry rootlets of wild plants 
and shrubs. It was in a low bush, just above the ground. 
Evidently the eggs described by Dr. Heermann did not 
belong to a bird of this species; and the egg in the British 
Museum attributed to this Sparrow is incorrectly named, but 
it is not unlikely to be an egg of Pooecetes grmnmeus. 
Yours &c., j 
Thomas M. Brewer. j 
233 Beacon Street, Boston. j 
October 10, 1877. j 
Northrepps, November 24, 1877. 
Sirs, —During a recent visit to Newcastle I was enabled, - 
through the kindness of Mr. Hancock, to examine two 
Buzzards which appear to me to be British-killed examples 
of Buteo desert or urn. They are both in immature plumage, 
and remarkably resemble the dark-coloured phase of this 
Buzzard, of which specimens are occasionally sent to this 
country from Archangel. Both specimens are said to have 
been found to be males. ^ 
One of the two was killed at By well, near Newcastle, in 
1830, and is now in Mr. Hancock\s collection; its principal ^ 
measurements are—wing 14*2 inches, tarsus 2*8, middle toe i 
s, u. 1’3. The other was obtained at Tynemouth in No- f 
vember 1870, and is preserved in the Newcastle Museum 
its measurements are—wing 14*7 inches, tarsus 2*7, middle | 
toe^. w. 1*4. I 
