COMPARATIVE OOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 479 



to 4, deep glaucous-green or verditer-blue" (p. 274). The present writer 

 discovered the uest of oue of this latter species many years ago in ^New 

 England, and it had four eggs in and t/co nestlings. It was a very 

 slight affair for a nest, loosely put together with scanty material of 

 twigs, etc., and placed upon the horizontal bough of ;i small apple tree. 



I have never seen the eggs of any of the Trogones, and personally 

 know nothing of the nesting of our United States species T. ambiguus. 

 Prof. Newton, however, remarks, "so- far as has been observed, the 

 nidification of these birds is in holes in trees, wherein are laid without 

 any bedding 2 roundish eggs, generally white, but certainly in one 

 species (Quezal) tinted with bluish-green" (Art. "Trogon," Encycl. 

 Brit., vol. xxin, p. 584). Doctor Sharpe makes a like statement, but 

 no exceptions thereto. "Nest in hole of tree, eggs white" (Class, of 

 Birds, p. 82). 



We have two species of Kingfishers (Alcyones) in our avifauna, 

 Cerylc ahyon and Ceryle cabanisi. Either species usually lay six pure 

 white eggs of an ovate or oval form. They are characterized by 

 having smooth, glossy shells, which in the case of the last named 

 species is very thin and brittle, having the appearance of being com- 

 posed of porcelain. Such glossy and glassy, pure, white eggs are 

 also laid by every species of our Woodpeckers (Pici), and those birds 

 are very numerous in our avifauna — nearly forty of them. Ridgway 

 in his "Manual" barely mentions the eggs of these birds, and Coues 

 simply says that inform they are "rounded" (p. 471)). Most all the 

 species lay to the clutch, but in Dryobates villosus and Colaptes 7 are 

 sometimes taken. Probably in nearly all the species the eggs are more 

 or less of an oval or ovate shape; all that I have ever collected I have 

 found to be so. 



In noticing the eggs of our Owls (Striges), I will rely almost entirely 

 upon Bendire's work, so frequently quoted in this article. 



Oology of Owls. 



Asio wilsonianus Eggs 3-6 (sometimes 7); pure white; oval; shell 



smooth, finely granulated and rather glossy. 



Asio accipitrinus Eggs 4-7 (rarely more) ; white; oval to elliptical 



ovate ; sometimes nearly equally pointed at each end. 



Syrnium nebulosum Eggs 2-4 (4 are rare) ; pure white; not very glossy; 



oval or rounded oval. 



Scotiaptex cinerea Eggs 2-4 ; dull white ; broad elliptical oval. 



Nyctala t. richardsom E»gs3-7; pure white; oval; almost lnsterless. 



Mcgascopn asio Eggs 4-5 (rarely 7 or more); pure white; oval or 



nearly globular; moderately glossy. 



Megascopn ftammeolus Eggs 3-4; white, with a faint creamy tint; oval; 



shell strong, finely granulated ; slightly glossy. 



Bubo Virginia mix Eggs 2-3; white; little or no gloss; rounded oval; 



shell thick, coarsely granulated. 



Xycfea nyctea Eggs 3-10 (usually 5-7) ; white, creamy tint in some 



cases; oblong oval in shape; no luster; a few cor- 

 rugated lines starting a trifle beyond the center of 

 the egg and run to the longer axis in most specimens. 



