EiDGWAY on tlie Eggs of the Caspian Tern. 221 



LXVIII. Phaleris cristatella, Bon. Crested Auk. 

 Sweden. 1. One, on the Wettern Lake, near Jonkopin;;. Meves, 

 fide Nj'a Jagare Fbrbundets Tidskrift, 186 7, p. 108. Dec, 1860. 



Addendum. — To the record of Tringoides macularius (antea, p. 149) 

 add : — 



Germany. 1. One, an adult male, in the environs of Spires, Rhenish 

 Bavaria. Marmottan and Vian, Bull, de la Soc. Zool. de France, 1879, 

 p.. 248. In coll. of M. Marmottan. 22 AprH, 1875. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE [EGGS OF THE CASPIAN TERN 

 (STERNA C ASP I A). 



BY EGBERT KIDGWAY. 



In the number of this Bulletin for October, 1879, Mr. Henshaw 

 records the fact that the Caspian Tern breeds on the islands oflF the 

 coast of Virginia, and describes a pair of downy young obtained by 

 him on Cobb's Island. As one of the results of a trip to the same 

 locality the present season, it was my good fortune to obtain two 

 eggs from a nest situated not a hundred yards from that in which the 

 young birds described by Mr. Henshaw were found, but of course 

 belonging to another pair of birds, since the parents of said young 

 are among the treasures of Mr. Henshaw's fine collection. A rela- 

 tion of the circumstances attending the discovery of this second nest 

 may, while perhaps adding little to our knowledge of the habits of 

 the species under consideration, at least prove of interest to the 

 reader. 



On Sunday, 'July 4, the excellent boatman whose services we 

 had fortunately been able to engage, made a trip to that portion of 

 the island where the nest had been found the preceding season, and 

 discovered that an immense colony of the Eo^^al Tern had established 

 themselves for the purpose of rearing their young, though they had 

 at that time deposited only three eggs. He returned with six fine 

 specimens of the birds, having killed many more. Allowing the 

 birds sufficient time to deposit their eggs, we visited the locality two 

 days afterward, and found an area of perhaps one eighth of an acre 

 completely covered by their eggs, it being impossible to walk through 

 the nesting site without crushing a greater or less number, many 



