282 BRITISH BIRDS. 



yet there would appear to be certain cases of abnormal 

 coloration for which another cause must be sought. May 

 not reversion to an ancestral type of shell be a factor in these 

 cases ? That they occur among the Limicolse as well as in 

 the Gavise, see British Birds, Vol. II., pp. 134-5 ; and in 

 April, 1911, I found the almost perfect shell of a Lapwing's 

 egg (a Carrion-Crow had pierced and sucked it), the ground- 

 colour of which was pale blue, uniformly but not very thickly 

 covered with small black spots. Within a short distance 

 was a smaller fragment of another shell of exactly similar 

 type. M. WiNZAR Compton. 



[It is a well-known fact that blue eggs, sometimes entirely 

 devoid of markings and sometimes slightly or normally 

 marked, occur not only among the Waders and the gulls 

 and terns, but also among the game-birds. But it is not 

 necessary to explain this as caused by reversion to an ancestral 

 type. As a matter of fact, the ancestral type must have 

 been white, as it is invariably among reptiles at the present 

 time. It is evident that the ground-colour of an egg must 

 be imposed at an earlier period of development than the 

 surface-markings, while the shell is still soft and receptive 

 of colour. The surface-markings are caused hj the secretion 

 of pigment from glands when the surface of the egg has 

 become hardened. If the egg is extruded prematurely, these 

 latter markings are often wanting, but the same effect may 

 be produced if the secretion of pigment is interfered with 

 in any way. Most blue eggs of Lapwings belong to the former 

 class, and have imperfectly developed shells. Probably in 

 a normal Lapwing's egg the blue ground is obscured by the 

 subsequent secretion of brownish pigment while the shell is 

 still soft, thus forming the olive ground on which the blackish 

 surface -markings are superimposed. If through exhaustion 

 or any other cause the secretions which form the surface- 

 markings fail, the egg may be retained in the oviduct till fully 

 developed, but when laid, the egg will be found to lack the 

 black (surface) spots. In a prematurety-laid egg the fine 

 black specks show where the surface secretions are just 

 beginning to be deposited. — F. C. R. Jourdain.] 



THE 1912 "WRECK" OF THE LITTLE AUK. 



Undoubtedly great numbers of Little Auks {Mergulus alle) 

 came to grief on our shores and were driven far inland dui ing 

 the severe weather at the end of January and beginning of 

 Februarjr, 1912. Judging by the informaticn which has so 

 far come to hand, it would appear that the bird has suffered no 

 disaster comparable to this since January and February, 1895, 



