if 



The Oologists'' Record^ March t, 192 J. 



though the measurements in inches of my 1918 lot may be of 

 interest : — 



Size of clutch. 



I 

 I 



4 



2 



3 



2 



4 



I 



2 



I 

 2 



•94 

 •92 



X 

 X 



•62. 



•66. 



X -63. Maximum length, 

 •62. Maximum breadth, 

 •61. 



It is curious that all the largest eggs were found in the hills, and 

 also that practically the largest egg should be the broadest. In 

 colour there is a good deal of variation — but the majority of eggs 

 are whitish in ground colour, finely but thickly spotted and speckled 

 all over the surface with various shades of brown and chestnut, 

 and with shell markings of different shades of grey — purplish grey and 

 slate — which are equally well distributed all over the &^^^, though 

 these shell markings are apt to be more profuse at the larger end. 



Many eggs are almost indistinguishable from those of Motacilla 

 lugubris, while the majority resemble those of Passer domesticus, 

 though the surface markings are usually of a brighter brown. The 

 chief variations are in the ground colour, which in a good many 

 clutches varied from a pale greyish-green to quite a marked blue- 

 green tinge (but eggs in one clutch rarely vary), and in the surface 

 markings, which are occasionally collected chiefly at the larger end, 

 and often are large elongated spots of a bright umber-brown colour 

 instead of the finer spots and specklings, but all eggs are marked all 

 over to a certain extent. Ring markings consisting of a profusion 

 of spots at the larger end are most unusual, though sometimes a 

 faint greenish ring is discernible near the smaller end, due to an 

 abnormality in the pigmentation. 



