Birds' E(i(is in the Transvaal Hhtseiim. 73 



Colour. These eggs are extremely beautiful, and give one 

 a general idea of being a warm pink colour, somewhat similar 

 to the impression produced by the appearance of the rare 

 pink variety of the egg of Larus argentatus (Herring Gull). 

 On examination it is found that the ground-colour is a 

 delicate cream, the surface being thickly and closely suffused 

 with under markings of pinkish brown and over markings of 

 a more red-brown tinge. None of these spots are larger than 

 about &'& X 4'1 mm. 



In one egg the markings tend to disappear at the narrower 

 end ; in the other three they are very evenly distributed. 



('lutch 2, though not in a very good state of preservation, 

 being end-blown and one egg being rather damaged, is quite 

 abnormal in appearance. They appear to be consideral)ly 

 shorter, and although, owing to being end-blown, the length- 

 measurement cannot perhaps be taken as absolutely accurate, 

 the mean length-measurement of the two eggs which can be 

 measured at all is only 44*9 mm., whilst the mean breadth 

 is 31"1 mm. These eggs are much less thickly spotted ; the 

 spots are much larger and less red but more sienna-coloured. 

 In two of the eggs the markings are almost entirely confined 

 to the narrower end. The pink impression is not nearly so 

 marked as in clutch 1. This is a striking though not beau- 

 tiful clutch. 



Of the remaining nine eggs it may perhaps be said that 

 although they vary considerably in size they approximate in 

 general appearance to clutch 1. 



3. Three eggs : Jan. 1899. Grahamstown, Cape Colony : 



taken by R. H. Ivy. 



4. Two eggs : 1897. Natal. 



0. Three eggs : no date. Potchefstroom : taken by N. 

 Roberts. 



6. One egg : no data. 



One of the clutch 5 eggs is extremely small, measuring 

 only 38*lx30'5 mm. The others are mostly rather smaller 

 than the mean of clutch 1, which I regard as a particularly 

 fine set. 



