76 HEWITSON'S " BRITISH OOLOGY." 



have only seen two eggs of this species, than which the specimen 

 represented by Mr. Hewitson is somewhat more decidedly mottled. 

 It is of a dirty white, obscurely clouded, chiefly at the large end, 

 with small blotches of pale rufous brown, of different degrees of 

 intensity. Altogether it is beautifully illustrative of the bird's 

 affinities. 



Cinereous Erne, HaUcectus albicilla (Falco albicilla, of Linneus, 

 Whitetailed or Cinereous Sea-eagle, of most of its describers). A 

 large, dull, white egg, faintly marked with a few brownish blotches. 

 "The few specimens," says Mr. Hewitson, "which I have exa- 

 mined are either altogether spotless, or, like the plate, very faintly 

 marked. I think it most probable that some will be found much 

 more boldly spotted." 



Plate III. (XXIV. in the series of publication) contains two fi- 

 gures of the egg of the European Hawk, Accipiter Europceus (Falco 

 nisus, Linneus ; Sparrowhawk of most naturalists. We prefer the 

 unobjectionable term, nisus, fringillarius, and the like, being neces- 

 sarily equally applicable to every species of Accipiter, and besides, 

 conveying too low an estimate of the predatory powers of these birds, 

 as does also the vernacular Sparrow -hawk. Europceus can only 

 apply to this species. Few persons are unacquainted with the egg 

 of this bird, which is admirably represented by Mr. Hewitson. 

 Fig. ] . presents its ordinary aspect ; fig. 2. a variety. In some 

 eggs, the author states, the markings are very faint. 



In the next plate are two excellent representations of the Pere- 

 grine Falcon's eggs (Falco peregrinus), much resembling, except 

 in size, those of the Kestrel Falcon, with which most naturalists 

 are familiar. Fig. 2. presents the usual appearance, fig. 1. that of 

 a variety shewing more of the pale colour than is usual, at (what 

 in most eggs would be called) the smaller end. The eggs of all 

 rapacious birds are very elliptical, nearly approximating, in some 

 instances, to round. In the Falcon genus they are mostly of a dark, 

 rufous tint, which is occasionally broken into ill-defined and con- 

 fluent rufous spots upon a pale ground, accompanied with markings 

 of a still deeper colour. In F. columbarius, of North America, a 

 deviation from the Falcon type is perceptible, in the similitude of 

 the eggs to those of the short-winged Hawks, which have the 



" Upon such a system, which is now supported by the lessees of the es- 

 tate, it is not improbable but that, in a very few years, some of the species 

 of the raptorial birds and carnivorous quadrupeds may become extinct." — 

 Edinbro' New Philosophical Journal for January, 1836. 



