March io. 1898] 



NATURE 



439 



labours of the anatomist and the museum worker. " What 

 engineer," writes the Professor, " can be said to under- 

 stand his business if he knows not the purpose to which 

 the machines he makes are to be appHed, and is un- 

 acquainted with their mode of working. We may 

 investigate thoroughly the organs of any animal, we may 

 trace them from the earliest moment in which they 

 become defined, and watch them as they develop to 

 maturity, we may comprehend the way in which every 

 part of a complicated structure is built up ; but if we take 

 not the trouble to know their effects on the economy of 

 the creature, we as naturalists have done but half our 

 task, and abandon our labour when the fulness of reward 

 is coming upon us." All honour then to those (if only 

 they work in the right way) who risk their health, if not 

 (heir lives, and spend their treasure, in the quest of the 

 rarer birds' eggs 1 



Although they have been removed from the list of 

 desiderata, the eggs of the curlew-sandpiper will prob- 

 ably long remain among the rarest of those of the 

 British species, those from the Yenisei being the only 

 specimens at present known. Among the species in- 

 cluded in the British lists whose eggs were unknown at 

 least as late as 1896, is Pallas's grey shrike {Lanius 

 sibiricus\ but as this bird is so closely allied to the 

 ordinary species, their discovery cannot be looked for- 

 ward to with any special interest. The second is the 

 needle-tailed swift {Chcetura caudacufa), which has 

 only twice been seen in Britain, and breeds in northern 

 Asia, although its eggs are still unknown. Equally slight 

 are the claims of the sharp-tailed sandpiper {Tringa 

 acuininuta) to be regarded as British ; and, although 

 still unknown, its eggs will probably prove very similar 

 to those of the American T. maculata. To the rare and 

 beautiful wedge-tailed gull {Rhodostethia rosed), reported 

 to have been once seen in Britain, is provisionally 

 assigned a single ^%g in the British Museum obtained from 

 Disco Bay. Of far more interest would be the discovery 

 of the eggs of the Cape petrel {Daption capensis), since this 

 bird, of which an example was killed in Dublin in 1881, 

 represents a genus by itself One of its breeding-places 

 appears to be Kerguelen Island. Of two other petrels, 

 namely CEstrelata hcesitata and QL. brevipes, with equally 

 slight claims to admission in the British lists, the eggs 

 are likewise unknown. 



Of species whose eggs are known, although of extreme 

 rarity, next to the curlew-sandpiper, the white-billed 

 diver {Colymbus adamsi), a by no means very rare visitor 

 to our coasts, may first claim attention. The only known 

 eggs, which are very like those of the great northern 

 diver, were obtained during the voyage of the Vega in 

 1879. Of the lovely ivory gull {Pagophila eburned) the 

 eggs have been described by Prof. Collett ; while those 

 of the \c€i^x\^ %\i\\.{Larus leiicopterus) and Mediterranean 

 black-backed gull (Z. melanocephatus) come also under 

 the category of rarities, the nest of the latter species 

 being unknown. Of greater interest are the beautiful 

 eggs of the Sandwich tern, of which additional specimens 

 were recorded last year. Although obtained by Wolley, 

 the eggs of the spotted redshank ( To/anus fuscus) must 

 be regarded as prizes by the collector ; while so late as 

 1893 those of the solitary sandpiper {T. solitarius) were 

 recorded by Mr. Dixon as unknown, although one clutch 

 has been described by Mr. Elliot, in which the eggs 

 resembled those of the piping sand-plover. Claim to a 

 place in this section is undoubtedly held by the sander- 

 iing, of which eggs were obtained by MacFarlane in 

 Arctic America in 1863, and subsequently by Colonel 

 ^eilden in Grinnell-land. The knot {Tringa canutus) 

 IS another of the species which appears in Mr. Dixon's 

 hook of 1893 as among those of which the eggs are 

 unknown. It seems, however, that a clutch of four 

 was taken in Greenland as far back as 1875, o"^ of 

 which is now in the British Museum ; and these, with a 



NO. 1480, VOL. 57] 



single specimen taken from the body of a female by 

 Lieut. Greeley, appear to be the only examples in col- 

 lections. Far less uncommon are the eggs of the little 

 stint {T. minutd), although they still come under the 

 category of rarities, as do those of the jack snipe, which 

 were fir^t taken by Wolley in Lapland. The crestless 

 lapwing {Vanellus gregarius), of which but one British 

 specimen is on record, is also a bird of whose nidification 

 details are wanting, although the eggs are known to be 

 four in number, and very similar to those of the crested 

 species. Dotterel eggs, although very handsome, can 

 now scarcely be considered as rarities ; but those of the 

 lesser golden plover {Charadrius dominicus) are very 

 scarce, although theit similarity to those of the ordinary 

 species renders them less interesting than would other- 

 wise be the case. 



Passing other members of the foregoing groups whose 

 eggs are more or less scarce, allusion must specially be 

 made to the common bernicle goose, of which it is a 

 remarkable fact that eggs laid in a wild state are quite 

 unknown, although this is somewhat discounted by the 

 circumstance that birds have nested in captivity. Of the 

 nearly allied red-breasted bernicle {Bernicla ruficollis) 

 the eggs have, however, been discovered, and, except for 

 their somewhat smaller dimensions, are stated to be 

 indistinguishable from those of the bean-goose. 



Although the eggs of all the species of birds of prey 

 recorded as British are known, some are comparatively 

 rare in collections. Among such may be mentioned 

 those of the red-footed kestrel {Falco vespertinus), 

 which although not uncommonly taken in Russia, were 

 so poorly represented in the British Museum in 1896 

 ! that Dr. Bowdler Sharpe stated he was unable to 

 I properly define their characters. 



I In addition to those of Pallas's shrike, which have 

 ' already been mentioned in the unknown list, the follow- 

 ing are some of the rarer eggs among the British 

 Passerines. From their beautiful markings the eggs of 

 ■ all the buntings are always favourites with collectors ; 

 and from their rarity those of the rustic bunting must be 

 specially prized. Two only are in the Seebohm collection 

 in the British Museum, although others have been 

 described by Mr. Dresser, and yet others are mentioned 

 i by Prof Newton as among the sp>ecialities of last year's 

 collecting. Richard's pipit {An/hus richardi) affords an 

 ! example of a bird of which the eggs are known, but the 

 } nest has never been described. Among comparative 

 I rarities the eggs of the yellow-browed willow-warbler 

 I {Phylloscopussuperdliaris)a.nd the marsh-warbler (/4fr<7- 

 I cephalus palustris) deserve passing mention, especially 

 as many referred to the latter species appear to be 

 nothing more than pale examples of the reed-warbler. 

 Perhaps the greatest prizes among the British repre- 

 sentatives of the group are, however, the eggs of White's 

 I thrush {Turdus varius). A nest, with eggs, from 

 ! Ningpo attributed to this species is included in the 

 I Seebohm collection, and undoubted specimens are men- 

 ' tioned in Prof Newton's list of new acquisitions. Less 

 ! rare are the eggs of the black-throated ouzel ( T. atri- 

 gularis), of which several clutches have been taken in 

 the Altai, although the nest is still unknown. Another 

 desideratum is the nest of the Siberian ground-thrush 

 ( T. sibiricus), of the eggs of which three specimens taken 

 in Japan, and now in the Seebohm collection, were the 

 only examples known up to 1896. Of the Arctic blue- 

 throat {Cyaneciila suecicd) the eggs, which resemble 

 those of a redwing in miniature, are far less rare^ but 

 must still be reckoned as among the collector's choicest 

 treasures. 



To go further into the British list would be beyond the 

 limits of this article, while, as already said, species not 

 occurring in that list must be excluded. An exception 

 may, however, be made in favour of the rare Pander's 

 chough-thrush {Podoces panderi), of the deserts of Central 



