THE MUSEUM. 



233 



not before the first or second week in 

 June. 



"Two eggs are generally laid to a 

 set, occasionally but one, and rarely 

 three or four. The average measure- 

 ment of twenty specimens from differ- 

 ent parts of the United States is 47 by 

 37 millimeters. The largest egg in 

 this series measured 50 by 39, the 

 smallest 41.9 by 34.5 millimeters. I 

 consider these eggs as handsome as 

 any of those of our Raptores. They 

 are usually oval in shape; some ap- 

 proach on elliptical ovate. The shell 

 is moderately smooth and close grain- 

 ed. The ground color varies from a 

 dull to an ashy white, and again it 

 may be a delicate cream color. 



"The eggs are spotted and blotched 

 with different shades of rich brown 

 and ferruginous, usually irregular in 

 outline, and varying considerably in 

 amount. These markings sometimes 

 form an irregular band running from 

 the center to the smaller end, and fre- 

 quently become confluent. Occasion- 

 ally a specimen is found in which the 

 markings are very few and small in 

 size, scarcely any being larger than 

 a No. 10, shot, and the majority small- 

 er. In a few specimens light laven- 

 der colored shell markings, generally 

 of small size, are also visible. There 

 is a great deal of difference in the style 

 and markings of these eggs if a num- 

 ber are compared, but they can read- 

 ily be distinguished from the eggs of 

 any of our Raptores. 



Cvpraea. 



Col. Wilmer a veteran English col- 

 lector said to me as we were rambling 

 through the British Museum that the 

 first love of the amateur collector of 

 shells was the C3'prffia: that he next 



wandered to the Murices and Cones, 

 but with the sober second thought he 

 finally settled down, for his life work 

 on the Helices. If the Colonel's ob- 

 servation is correct, mine is a case of 

 arrested development: for I have nev- 

 er swerved from my allegiance to my 

 first love — the beautiful cowries, — al- 

 though I have been for nearly 20 years 

 a collector in a modest way. Their 

 brilliant and varied colors, their mark- 

 ings shaded and blended as if limned by 

 some rare artist, make them to me the 

 lovliest gems of the ocean, and worthy 

 of their name of Cypra^a, a title of 

 Venus, the goddess of love and beauty of 

 the ancient Greeks. The French on 

 account of their brilliant glossy surf ace, 

 call them porcelaines. 



The shell of the Cyprsea is describ- 

 ed as — ventricose, convolute, spire con- 

 cealed, aperture long and narrow, in- 

 ner lip crenulated, outer lip in- 

 flected and crenulated. The shell of 

 the young Cyprsea does not bear a 

 very close resemblance to that of the 

 adult. The spire is exposed and the 

 outer lip thin and it might easily be 

 mistaken for a Voluta. The Cyprgea 

 are carnivorous, living on minute ma- 

 rine animals, the coral builders being a 

 favorite tid bit with them. They in- 

 habit for the most part the tropical 

 seas and live in shallow waters near 

 the shore, which gives the sun its full 

 photographic power to' make their 

 shells the brightest tinted of the 

 whole phylum. They lead very tran- 

 quil lives, moving neither far nor fast. 

 They are provided with broad man- 

 tles, which when fully extended en- 

 velop the entire shell. 



Their mode of growth has long 

 been a matter of dispute. Some of 

 the older writers of great eminence 



