The egg of CUCULUS CANORUS L. 

 (Plates 89—90). 



In most instances it is possible to distinguish in the markings: 



a. the undermost, grey or violet grey spots, fainter or clearer 

 in shade according to the greater or smaller depth at which they 

 are situated; they are found principally at the basal part of the shell. 



b. the middle, mostly irregularly shaped spots (coloured inten- 

 sively and scarcely ever closed, but mostly disintegrated), small clouds, 

 spatters and specks of various sizes, which, although spread all 

 over the shell, usually occur slightly more densely on the basal 

 half; they, however, only rarely form a real ring there; the colour 

 of the spots, etc. varies; a light or dark shade of brown occurs 

 most frequently, with which, however, other tints are also some- 

 times mixed. 



c. the uppermost, fine round specks, or small irregularly shaped 

 spots, dark in colour and sharply accentuated. They are only 

 rarely completely absent; the greater their number is, the finer they 

 are; their colour is blackish brown or black; in the case of the 

 reddish types they are coloured reddish, especially at the edges; 

 they are conglutinated so little that they soon come off when 

 moistened. 



