and speckled with rather small markings of olive brown, and with numerous 

 underlying markings of violet grey. The character of the markings also 

 varies considerably. As a rule they are collected in a zone round the egg, 

 but on many specimens they are uniformly distributed over the entire surface, 

 while on another variety they are collected on one end of the egg, forming an 

 irregular patch, and entirely concealing the ground-colour. On some eggs 

 the markings are finely powdered over the surface, while on others they are 

 large, and take the form of bold spots and blotches, and on all specimens the 

 underlying markings are numerous and well defined. 



The eggs vary in length from '95 to 79 inch, and in breadth from 70 

 to '6 1 inch. Only one brood is reared in the season, the young leaving our 

 shores with their parents in September. 



VOL. IV. D 



