76 



THE OSPREY. 



the cavity occupies a comparatively small part 

 of it." Wolley added that he knew "no other 

 nest at all like it.'" He evidently had no idea of 

 the great variety which might be found iti 

 Ospreys' nests. He made, however, very volu- 

 minous notes on the nests and eggs of European 

 birds he had observed which are recorded in the 

 "Ootheca Wolleyana," "Edited from the origi- 

 nal notes by Alfred Newton," and published in 

 18b4 (p. 58-72). 



EGGS. 



The eggs are diversiform as well as diversi- 

 color. They are slightly larger than an ordinary 

 hen's egg. The average measurement of sixty- 

 nine specimens in the U. S. National Museum 

 was estimated by Bendire at 62 millimetres for 



Great variation is manifest in the coloration. 

 "The ground color is usually a creamy white, 

 and this is sometimes so evenly and regularly 

 overlaid with pigment as to give it a buffy or 

 vinaceous appearance." Most eggs are super- 

 ficially of the "huffy" color beset with spots or 

 blotches running more or less into each other, 

 and aggregated or blended about the big end 

 and, exceptionally, at the little end. The varia- 

 tion is towards an almost spotless dusky white 

 or a reddish brown with the markings obsolete. 



One of the 111 eggs in the U. S. National 

 Museum has markings reminding one of fly 

 specks. "The beautiful vinaceous red tints 

 found in some of the egg's of this species when 

 fresh [are said to] become darker with age." 



The most common number of eggs in a set is 



--* : \ 



' "■'■ 



~J 



ORPBEY NEST AT PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



length and 46 for width: the largest egg mea- 

 sured 68. S by 49. .S millimetres and was obtained 

 at Cape St. Lucas; the smallest was 59.S by 42 

 millimetres and was found in Cape May County, 

 N. J. 



They, as Bendire has remaike 1, "vary greatly 

 in shape, ranging from an ovate to either a 

 short rounded, elliptical, or elongate ovate." 

 The regular ovate is the normal type, and the 

 deviations are comparatively rare. 



three, but sometimes there are as few as two, 

 and on the other hand as many as four. Dresser 

 record.-, that "out of about 80 eggs," all were "in 

 clutches of three, except three clutches, which 

 consist of four eggs each." In one nest on 

 Plum Island, Mr. Allen found Ave, and the en- 

 tirely exceptional occurrence of seven young 

 in one nest has been recorded by Mr. R. H. 

 Howe, Jr. 



(To be Continued.} 



