468 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



does not fully agree with either the statements of Coues or Ridgway; 

 and we find similar discrepancies in the next suborder or the Loncii- 

 pennes, as the subjoined table clearly shows. 



Oology of Longipennes. 



Species, etc. 



( iil|r>. 



Grinei il des< nption 



Xema sabinii 



Sterna antillaiem. 



Tern.) 



Tihynchops nigra 



(Least 



Eggs, generally :t. light-colored, 

 with numerous heavy dark 

 blotches: Niditication normally 



terrestrial. (Key, pp. 7:i3, 774.) 

 Eggs 3, * brownish-olive. 



sparsely splashed with brown. 

 1.75 X 1.25. (Key. p. 75;i.) 



Eggs, 1, 2, or 3 in number; ground 

 color, varying from pale clear 

 greenish to dull pale drab, 

 speckled all over with small 

 splashes, etc. 1.20tol.30 0.99. 

 (Key. p. 767.) 



Eggs ■'< in number, pure white, 

 spotted and splashed with dark 

 browns and blackish, and ]>alc 

 neutral tint. (Key, p. 773.) 



Ridgwaj . 



None given. (Manual, p. 20.) 



Eggs 2-5, * * deep olive 



(varying in intensity, however), 

 rather indistinctly spotted or 

 blotched with brown. 1.78X1.26. 



(Manual, p. 38.) 

 Eggs 2-4, white, huffy white, or 

 butt', spotted with brown or pur- 

 plish gray. 1.28 X 0.91. (Man- 

 ual, p, 46.') 



Eggs 2-5, white, buffy white, or 

 pale buff, marked with large 

 bold spots of rich dark or deep 

 brown, and smaller, fainter spots 

 of purplish gray. (Manual, p. 

 40.) 



Gulls, Jaegers, Terns, and Skimmers (Rhynehops) all lay eggs of some 

 form of the ovate or " short " ovate. Chionis minor, it maybe inter- 

 esting to know in this connection, ''lays 2 or 3 eggs,"* which accord- 

 ing to Dr. Kidder differ much in color, the general tint, however being 

 a cafe au lait, irregularly blotched with several shades of dark sepia 

 brown, chiefly near the larger end; but according to Dr. Sharpe the 

 blotches are of a "purple" color (loc. cit., p.- 72). 



As we know, among the Limicolce, the eggs are generally four in 

 number, with a ground color of some shade of buff or olive, more or 

 less spotted and blotched, and of a pyriform shape. The markings 

 are commonly of some shade of brown, almost black in some instances, 

 or purplish. Coues, in his u Key," ignores the eggs of a great many of 

 the limicoline birds, including such interesting forms as the Woodcock, 

 Oyster Catchers, and Turnstones. The study of the oology of this 

 group is important, for " Perhaps the greatest scientific triumph of 

 oologists lies in their having fully appreciated the intimate alliance of 

 the Limicolce (the great group of Snipes and Plovers), with the Gavice 

 (the Gulls, Terns, and other birds more distantly connected with them), 

 before it was recognized by any professed taxonomist, L'flerminier, 

 whose researches have been much overlooked, excepted ; though to 

 such an one was given the privilege of placing that affinity beyond 

 cavil" (Huxley, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1867, pp. 426, 456-458; c/. Ibis, 1868, 

 p. 92).t 



If for our present purposes we include in a suborder (Herodiones) 

 the Ibises, the Storks, the Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, and their natural 



* Kidder. J. II: Bull. l T . S. Nat. Mus. No. 3, 1876, p, 

 t Newton A., Art. " Birds," Encyl. Brit., p. 77;>. 



