34 



er end — brown predominating on the smaller and heliotrope on 

 the larger end; .65X.52, .81x.62, .79x.62, .81x.63 and .82x.62 inch. 



95. Melospiza fasciata. Song Sparrow. June 10, 1883. 

 Collected by Edwin S. Bryant, near Springville, Erie Co. N. Y. 

 Five fresh eggs; four are normally blotched with chestnut and 

 heliotrope purple, thickest on larger end; the fifth is a runt ab- 

 normally colored, very closely resembling the chocolate colored 

 eggs of the Long-billed Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris). El- 

 liptical ovate; .78x.62, .80x.62, .78x.59, ,78x.61 and .57^.43 inch. 



o 



VI. — Abnormal Shape and Coloration. 



96. Lams argentatus smithsonianus. American Her- 

 ring Gull. — June 10, 1894. Collected by Ed VanWinkle, Green 

 Bay, Mich., and secured from the E. H. Short Collection. Three 

 eggs, one of which is elliptical oval and possesses a clear greenish 

 band around one end. Olive buff, marked with brown of varying 

 shades, over a diffusion of drab-gray; 2.92x2.01, 2.99x1.98 and 

 2.99x1.98 inches. 



97. Molothrus ater. Cowbird. (Plate IV, No. 97,) with 

 a set of Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo oftyacei's).— June 10, 1896. Col- 

 lected by W. F. Hill, Lake City, Minn. This peculiar specimen 

 is well represented in the engraving. The egg is pure white, and 

 save for a number of faint blotches of subdued lavender, scat- 

 tered at random over the surface, very much resembles the 

 Vireo's eggs, but larger — the black and dark markings being of 

 the same delicate pigment seen on Vireo's, softening under the 

 application of water; .92x.70inch. Size of Vireos'; .79x. 58, .80x57, 

 .83x.61 and .82x.60 inch. 



98. Molothrus ater. Cowbird. (Plate IV, No. 98), 

 with a set of four fresh eggs of American Redstart (Setophaga 

 ruticilla).— May 30, 1896. Collected by W. F. Hill, Lake City, 

 Minn. This egg is like the Redstart's in every particular except 

 size and ground color; in the latter respects being entirely differ- 

 ent from any specimens of Cowbird's eggs I have ever seen, 

 being an olive-buff with a warm, creamy tint, marked with specks 

 and blotches of cinnamon and heliotrope purple in a broad b<md 

 around the larger end— just like the encircling wreaths on the ac- 

 companying Redstart specimens, the colors of the latter, how- 

 ever, being more brilliant and seated on a clear creamy-white 

 ground. Size, Cowbird's egg, .88x.70inch; Redstart, .67x.48, 

 .62x.48, .62x.49 and .62x.49 inch. 



99. Petrochelidon lunifrons. Cliff Swallow. (Plate 

 IV, No. 99).— May 27, 1885. Collected by Arthur C. Chapman, 

 Oak Orchard, Orleans Co., N. Y., and secured from the Neil 

 Franklin Posson Collection, Medina, N. Y. Four fresh eggs, 



