30 NORTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



descriptions of the birds of Vermont.' Two eggs from New Jersey, measuring 2-rg 



inches in length, by \\-q in breadth, have a brownish- white ground, marked Avith 



large blotches of yellowish umber, chiefly around the larger end, Avhere they form a 



confluent ring. One of these is represented in Plate III, fig. 25. Two others, from 



a nest in Massachusetts, exhibit the following measurements : 2t^ by lyf , and 2-rs by 



1t6 inclies. One of these has a dirty-white ground, with large, irregular blotches 



of umber and sienna brown, mingled confusedly together, of different shades, and 



nearly covering the Avhole surface. The other is nearly unspotted, has the lighter 



brown markmgs of the preceding, which are not well defined, and are diffused over 



about one half of its surface. The groimd color is more distinctly white, but with 



no bluish shade. Two others belonging to this species, obtained in Milton, Mass. 



by Mr. E. Samuels, and identified by securing the parent bird, may be thus described. 



One measures 2t6 by 1x1 inches ; the ground color is a dirty white, and is marked 



with large blotches, lines, and dottings of umber-brown, of various shades, from quite 



dark to light. The other is 2 inches by l\i-, has a bluish-white ground, and is 



only marked by a number of very faint blotches of yellowish-browai and a slate-drab. 



Except in their shape, which is an oval spheroid, slightly pointed at one end, these 



bear but very slight resemblance to each other, though taken at the same time from 



one nest. Two more from Cheraw, S. C, also found in one nest, vary even more 



than these. One is 2 by Ir? inches ; the ground color is a dull, soiled Avhite, marked 



chiefly at the larger end with bold, distinct blotches of deep umber-brown. The 



other measures 2tV by IrV inches; the ground color is a light slate-drab, with 



hardly any markings, except some ill-defined blotches of the same color as the 



ground, but of a deeper shade. There is also a slight variation in their shape, the 



latter being more oblong. ' 



1 History of Vermont, Natural, Civil, and Statistical, by Zadock Thompson, (Burlington (Vt.), 1842,) 

 p. 60. 



