258 0)1 the Ef/rjs of Fraiercula nrciica. [Ibis, 



Is there a reversionary tendency ? I am promptod to answer 

 my own question in the negative. They are, in my opinion, 

 passing through a fairly rapid transition stage, i. e., the 

 pigment apuarently is becoming more superimposed ; recently 

 taken eggs show a distinct tendency in this direction, many 

 eggs exhibiting hirge, well-defined superficial markings. 

 Eggs taken thirty or forty years ago were rarely surface 

 marked. Some of those figured in various works were 

 obviously picked for the purpose, and were not typical eggs 

 of the times. 



My opinion in regard to this is based on the following 

 facts : — In 1919 these eggs were collected in large quantities 

 for food, and I had the opportunity to examine some hundreds 

 from Barra. There was scarcely an egg among them that 

 was not well marked. I was so struck by this inteiesting 

 fact that I got into communication with the collectors who 

 had gathered Puffins^ ^^"gs for many years, and I found 

 they had already noticed these well-marked eggs, mention- 

 ing that the eggs they collected thirty to thirty-five years 

 ago were nearly all unmarked. 



If Saunders's, Seebohm's, and Dresser's descriptions of the 

 ground-colour were characteristic of the eggs of this time, 

 i. e., white or dull white, there are strong grounds for 

 assuming that the ground-colour has also considerably 

 changed. 



My own experience is that white correctly describes 

 the eggs of that time. I now find the followino- o-round- 

 colour in recently taken eggs: — Ochraceous, buff, cream, 

 greyish white, white-tinged mauve, and pale pink ; the 

 last, however, soon fades. 



The colour of the pigment, which is brownish black to 

 pale brown, remains unchanged. The shape is constant, 

 broad pointed ovals predominating. Those, however, \^hich 

 I collected in the Faroes in 1905 are ver}^ distinctive ; they 

 are longer and narrower, as the following measurements 

 show:— 66-;3 x 417, G3-2 x 40, G4 x 41, 632 x 42 mm.; 

 the average measurements of ten British eggs (in my own 

 collection) are 61'4 x 43'2 mm. 



