Selected eggs of Corvus americiuitis cannot be distinguished by an 

 expert from those of cauriuiis or ossifra^ns; but there is little danger 

 of any but the most ignorant or dishonest persons confounding the sepa- 

 rate species. The same may be said in relation to C. corax principalis, 

 and cryptoieucus. Some very large and richly marked specimens col- 

 lected in Minnesota and described by Mr. Walton Mitchel, closely resem- 

 ble the eggs of the Raven ; for instance : "Five eggs. Dark green, spotted 

 with purple and brown, some eggs having blotches on the large ends as 

 large as .90 X .60. Eggs: 1.80x1.31, 1.80x1.26, 1.79x1.28, 1.75x1.25, 

 1:74 X 1.27. Five eggs. Dark green, very heavily marked with lilac-brown 

 and dark purple. 1.94 x 1.40, 1.90 x 1.35, 1.89 x 1.36, 1.89 x 1.38, 1.85 x 1.36. 

 Four eggs. Three eggs light green, spotted with dark brown and purple. 

 One egg, dark green, very sparsely spotted. 1.78 x 1.27, 1.78 x 1.26. 1.74 

 XI. 22, 1.70X 1.20." Mr. Frederick M. Dille, says : " Several sets of their 

 eggs will not show as great a variation in color and markings as will some- 

 times the various eggs in a particular set. In this respect the eggs of the 

 Raven differ, all the eggs in any one set resembling each otjier very 

 closely. With little difficulty, however, a series of eggs of the American 

 Crow could be obtained which would be very interesting on account of 

 their variation." It is altogether impossible for me to attempt to give an 

 intelligible description of all the variations in the patterns and the colora- 

 tion of the eggs of this species. Therefore I shall only give a few of the 

 best descriptions, selected more for their variations thnn for the locality 

 in which they may have been found 



Descriptions of Sets. — The collectors of the various sets are in all 

 instances the describers of their respective sets, unle.ss otherwise stated. 



Set I.— May 29. 1887. Berwyn, Chester Co., Pa. Collected by F. L. 

 Burns. 5 eggs. Ground color, an indescribable greyish-green, ntispotfed. 

 Ovate. Three eggs hatched, the remaining two measure 1.54x1.16. 

 I. 56 X I 14. 



Set II.— April 15, 1891. Yakima Co., Wash. Collected by W. L. Daw- 

 son. 5 eggs. Ground color, an indefinite light greyish -blue, boldly 

 marked with well-defined blotches of dark hair-brown, overlaid with 

 fewer blotches of burnt umber, the blotches of both colors becoming 

 larger about the larger ends ; there are a few points of black also. The 

 ground color is not very much obscured except at larger ends. This set 

 is remarkably uniform in coloration. 1.69x1.14, 1.71x1.16, 1.69x1.14, 

 1.64x1.12, 1.66x1.16 (Described by Lynds Jones.) 



Set III.— April 3. 1893. Shabbona. DeKalb Co.. 111. Collected by 

 W' . L. Dawson. 6 eggs. Light bluish-white. General appeareance. 

 wood-brown. No. i. Lilac : moderate blotches, extremelv scarce. 



