I.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
During the considerable interval of time since the printing of this work was commenced, many additional facts have come to light in regard to the habits and geographical distribution of the land birds of North America; and while several so-called species have proved to be mere races, or even of less rank, some others have been added to the list. The more important of these are herewith subjoined.
Most of the new facts here announced are the results of the more recent labors of Captain Charles Bendire, First Cavalry, U. S. A., and of Messrs. J. A. Allen, C. E. Aiken, Dr. E. Coues, H. W. Henshaw, Mr. C. J. Maynard, and others, whose names are mentioned in their appropriate places.
Turdus pallasi, var. nanus (I, 20). Dr. Cooper has sent to the Smithsonian Institution skins of his T. nanus, and they prove to be T. ustulatus. The surmise expressed on page 21, that the nest and eggs described by Dr. Cooper as those of the former in reality belonged to the latter species, is thus undoubtedly correct.
Turdus pallasi, var. auduboni (I, 21). A nest with the eggs (S. I. 16,320) of this species was taken near Fort Ellis, Montana, July 16, 1872, by C. H. Merriam, attached to Dr. Hayden’s party. The nest is large and bulky for the size of the bird, is deeply saucer-shaped in form, measuring 6 inches in external diameter by 3 in depth. The cavity of the nest is 3 inches in diameter by about 1.75 deep. It is composed entirely of green mosses and lined with fine grass leaves.
The eggs were three in number, in shape broadly ovate and obtusely rounded at either end. They measure .85 of an inch in length by .72 in breadth; their color is a rather deep greenish-blue, almost exactly like those of Turdus migratorius.
The nest was built in a small pine-tree, about eight feet from the ground, in the pine regions of the mountains. In its position it differs from any now known of the Turdus pallasi, which, so far as known, builds invariably on the ground.
Harporhynchus ocellatus (I, 36). This is probably a Mexican form of H. cinereus.