480 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



Oology of owls — Continued. 



Surnia ulula Eggs 5-8 ; white ; smooth ; glossy. 



Surniau. caparoch Eggs 3-7; white; oval or oblong oval; somewhat 



glossy; smooth, hue grained. 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogwa Eggs 6-11; (not rare to find 11); pure white when 



washed ; rounded ovate and very glossy ; shell close- 

 grained and rather smooth. 



Glaucidium gnoma Eggs 4 ? 



G. g. californieum Eggs 3-1 ; dull milky white, with a faint creamy tint ; 



lusterless; peculiarly pitted with punctures; very 

 thin shells, almost semitranslucent. 



G, phaltenoides Eggs 4 ; oval ; compared with the last species shells 



much thicker; coarsely granulated ; no pittings or 

 punctures, but on the contary show a few slight 

 protuberances on their surfaces. 



Micropallas whitneyi Eggs 2-5 ; commonly 3 ; pure white ; oval ; finely granu- 

 lated and rather glossy. 



From this table it will bo seen that our largest Owls lay both the least 

 number (Bubo) as well as nearly the greatest number (Nyctea) of eggs, 

 the greatest number, however, probably being laid by the Burrowing 

 Owls (Speotyto). In other words, it maybe tersely said that our Striges 

 lay from two to a dozen white, oval eggs, varying somewhat with the 

 species. 



An equally useful table for the oology of our Caprimulgi can be 

 compiled from Dr. Coues's "Key, 1 ' and his descriptions of the eggs of 

 those birds is quite full. 



The following is what he records upon the subject: 



Oology of X. American Caprimulgi. 



Antro8tomii8 carolinensis Eggs 2; 1.45 X 1.05; heavily marked in intricate pat- 

 tern with browns and neutral tints. 



A. vociferus Eggs 2 ; 1.25 X 0.90 ; creamy white ; heavily marked 



with browns and neutral tints. 



Phalceonoptilus nuttalli Eggs 2; 1.05 X 0.80; elliptical; white. 



Nyctidromus albicollis Eggs 2; 1.25 X 0.92; creamy buff, spotted with pinkish 



brown and lilac. 



Chordeiles virginianus Eggs 2; elliptical; 1.52 X 0.87; finely variegated with 



stone-gray and other neutral tints, over which is 

 scratched and pitted dark olive-gray; but the pat- 

 tern and tints are very variable. 



C. texensis Eggs 2 ; heavily veined and marbled ; 1.20 X 0.87. 



The most remarkable exception, if it be true, among these birds, 

 then, is the elliptical white egg of Phalceonoptilus. For the Caprimulgi 

 as a group, Dr. Sharpe says : " Eggs white, with scroll-like markings 

 and spots" (p. 18), and Ridgway, for the family Caprimulgidce, "Eggs 

 deposited on bare ground, dead leaves, gravel, or sand, 2 broadly 

 elliptical — oval, plain or spotted" (Manual, p. 297), and of Phalceonoptilus 

 nuttallif "0.99 x 0.78, plain dead white, usually with a faint buffy or 

 pinkish tinge" (p. 299). This latter author's descriptions of the eggs of 



