ERITHACTJS. 147 



Genus ERITHACUS, Guvier. 

 Erithacus rubecula (Linn.}. 



(Plate VIII. figs. 6 & 8.) 



Sylvia rubecula, Thien. Fortpflanz. ges. Vog. tab. xxii. fig. 6, a-c (1845- 



54). 

 Erythacus rubecula, Baedeker, Eier Eur. Vog. tab. 27. fig. 5 (1855-63) ; 



Dresser, Birds Eur. ii. p. 329 (1873). 

 Erythaca rubecula, Hewitson, Eggs of Brit. Birds, i. p. 98, pi. xxviii. 



(1856). 

 Erithacus rubecula, Seebohm, Cat. Birds B. M. v. p. 299 (1881) ; id. 



Brit. Birds, i. p. 262, pi. 9 (1883) ; id. Eggs of Brit. Birds, p. 183, 



pi. 51. figs. 2 & 3 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-l. iv. p. 154 (1903). 



The Museum Collection contains a fine series of the eggs of the 

 Robin, which vary considerably in colour, and in shape, from the 

 broad oval to the spheroidal, and are generally highly glossy. The 

 ground is usually white or cream-coloured, sometimes tinged with 

 pale pink ; the markings are of various shades of brown or reddish 

 brown, mingled with underlying lavender, and while in some eggs 

 they are densely set over the whole shell in the shape of clouds, 

 blotches, and spots, in others they are sparingly distributed in the 

 form of small blotches and specks. In many specimens the mark- 

 ings are chiefly collected together at the broad end in the form of a 

 cap or zone, often very handsome. 



A set of eggs from Churt, Surrey, is pure white without any 

 markings ; others are very faintly or sparingly coloured, without the 

 prevailing rufous-brown tint of the typical specimens. Two eggs 

 from Bristol are very strikingly zoned with dark purple-grey, almost 

 black, blotches, dominating the red-brown spots. In size the eggs 

 vary from *7 to *9 in length, and from '56 to *65 in breadth. 



3. England. Old Collection. 



3. Cambridgeshire. F. Bond, Esq. [P.]. 

 5. Cambridgeshire. , F. Bond, Esq. [P.]. 



5. Coton, Cambridgeshire, llth May. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



6. Norfolk, 23rd April (F. Norgate). Seebohm Coll. 

 6. Norfolk, 20th May (F. N}. Seebohm Coll. 



4. Taplow. Berkshire. Gould Coll. 



2. Bristol. W. G. C. Norman, Esq. [P 



4. Great Whitley, June. W. E. de Winton, Esq. [P. 



4. Bentley, Hants, 22nd April (Har- Seebohm Coll. 



gitt Coll.}. 



5. Bentley, 2nd May (Hargitt Coll}. Seebohm Coll. 

 5. New Forest (H. Saunders}. Seebohm Coll. 



4. Finchley, Middlesex (O. Salviri). Salvin-Godtnan Coll. 



4. Finchley (O. &). Salvin-Godman Coll. 

 2. Chiswick, 4th April (Hargitt Seebohm Coll. 



Coll.}. 



5. Churt, Surrey, May. Crowley Bequest. 

 5. Churt, May. Crowley Bequest. 



4. Churt, June. Crowley Bequest. 



5. Yalkenswaard, Holland, 20th May Seebohm Coll. 



(C. B. Wharton $ II. Seebohm}. 



L2 



