[70]. A letter just received from Mr. Stephens contains the following very satisfactory confirmation of the above evidence. “The identification of your nest of S. picta is positive. I saw the parent plainly, and could easily have shot her. Indeed I should never have found the nest had not my attention been called to it by the birds flying from it as I brushed past almost within touching distance. When first found, the nest contained three eggs. I thought it best to leave them until next day to see if more might not be laid. * * * When I returned, however, the bird was not at home and as it was a long, rough walk to camp, I took the nest, their being no occasion to visit the spot again. * * * The locality was a wide part of a cañon between the two Santa Rita peaks, perhaps two miles from the top of the high ridge connecting them. Up this cañon passed an old Mexican road to the pine timber above. It had not been used for many years. In its course it cut through an occasional projecting bank, and in one of these places was the nest. It was under a small boulder in the side of a nearly perpendicular bank, which was but two or three feet high. The vicinity was heavily timbered with oak and sycamore. I regard the position as exceptional: still, it may be the rule.”
[71]. U. S. Geol. Surveys W. 100 Merid., 1879, pp. 291–293.
[72]. For an account of the nesting of this species at Grand Falls, see this Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. —.
[73]. For descriptions of the nesting of this species at Houlton and Fort Fairfield see this Bulletin, Vol. III, pp. 166–168, and Vol. IV, pp. 241, 242.
[74]. “Descriptions of two new Thrushes from the United States.” Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 374, pp. 374–9.
[75]. The highest peak of the Catskills,—4,205 feet altitude.
[76]. Both birds were carefully examined and the evidence on this point was positive and unequivocal. A Thrush’s nest containing spotted eggs discovered near the top of Slide Mountain may have been either that of this form or of swainsoni, but as positive identification was prevented, further allusion to it is, for the present, withheld.
[77]. Though averaging of greater length, in proportions this bird averages smaller than swainsoni, and some specimens are much smaller than any I have seen of the latter species. The wide difference from true aliciæ here implied may be illustrated by the following extreme measurements given by the birds of my series:—
| aliciæ, | length, | 8.00; | extent, | 13.12; | wing, | 4.35; | tail, | 3.40. |
| bicknelli, | „ | 6.55; | „ | 10.56; | „ | 3.40; | „ | 2.60. |
[78]. See “The Coues Check List of North American Birds,” p. 24.