Feb. 1886.] 

more prominent, owing to the fewer number of 
the spots—which latter instead of being of such 
minute size and great number as to almost entirely 
obscure the ground color, are larger and further 
apart—inclining in almost all cases to become 
confluent at the larger end. The spots are also of 
a more reddish tinge than those of C. brunnetca- 
pillus, which are of a true salmon color—though 
varying in intensity in different specimens. This 
gives the eggs of C. affinis an entirely different 
appearance from those of its allied species. They 
have a creamy-whitish ground color, spotted, as 
before stated, with reddish, while those of @ 
brunneicapillus appear ata first glance to be en- 
tirely of a salmon tint. It would be interesting to 
know if the foregoing observations correspond 
with the experience of others possessing sets of 
these beautiful eggs. 

Nesting Habits and Egg of Ashy 
Petrel. 
(Cymochorea homochrou.) 
BY A. M. INGERSOLL, SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA. 

On June 14, 1885, at South Farallone Island, 
Pacific ocean, Mr. W. O. Emerson and I had 
about finished collecting eggs for the day, when 
noticing a number of Pigeon Guillemots, ( Uréa 
colunba), flying to and from holes among rocks a 
short distance from our quarters on the island, 
we concluded to search for their eggs before sit- 
ting down to our evening’s work of preparing 
specimens. We had gone but a few rods, when 
IT saw, under a fallen rock, what I supposed in 
the dim light of its retreat to be an Auk, but on 
reaching under the stone and removing the bird 
I was greatly surprised to find I held the first and 
only live Petrel I had ever seen. On showing 
my prize to one of the Italian eggers, he ex- 
claimed, “ Why, that’s the first Sreallow Vve seen 
in two years.” 
The egg which the bird was so carefully guard- 
ing as to allow herself to be taken, was but slight- 
ly incubated. It is dull creamy white in color, 
with a circle of reddish dottings so fine as to be 
almost indistinct, around the large end—which 
is somewhat flattened like the large end of an 
acorn. It measures 1.18x.94 inches, and was laid 
on bare rock, in a natural hollow formed by a 
large rock falling in such a way as to leave an 
irregular cavity two or more feet in diameter by 
nine or ten inches in its greatest height. The 
egg was to one side of the centre of the cavity, 
and about fifteen inches from the entrance, which 
was too small to admit my arm until a number 
of stones were removed. On examining the 
cavity more thoroughly the next day, I found, 
AND OOLOGIST. 21 
= 
hidden in a crevice near the top of the highest 
part, an old Rock Wren’s nest, (Swlpinctes obsole- 
tus) containing one dead and dried up young 
bird. On the 15th one of the eggers brought us 
an egg, supposed to be an Ashy Petrel, which he 
found on the bare exposed rocks of the island. 
Mr. Emerson remained at the Farallones several 
weeks after I returned, and succeeded in also 
finding an egg and bird of the above species. I 
believe these three are the only eges of this ex- 
tremely rare bird that have ever been collected. 
eA An 
The Eggs of the Sparrow Hawk. 
In 1857, when Dr. Brewer published the first 
(and only) part of his North American Odlogy \e 
gave figures of four eggs of the Sparrow Hawk 
(Tinnunculus sparverius,) which are comparative- 
ly very little spotted. One of them (represented 
in Plate II, figure 15,) he calls especial attention 
to “on account of its well-defined markings, and 
the unusual depth and distinctness of the colors.” 
This is a very curious statement, as the egg in 
question has nota tenth part of the quantity of 
markings which are quite common on the eggs of 
this bird. Out of a large series before the present 
writer, three-fourths of them exhibit much richer 
and heavier coloring. Especially is this the case 
with a number of those eggs which come from 
California. Many of them are so heavily marked 
with reddish that the whole of the larger end is 
covered, while in others the markings form a 
belt or zone which is sometimes around the 
smaller end, but generally near the greater. 
Again, in other specimens from Pennsylvania and 
California, the whole of the ground color is so 
profusely covered with very minute specks of 
reddish color that the general effect, is almost as 
if it were all reddish. 
Dr. Brewer must have had very light colored 
specimens before him when he made the state- 
ment quoted above. 

Egg of the Yellow-Nosed Albatross. 
(Diomedea culminata). 
BY W. OTTO EMERSON, HAYWARDS, CAL. 
I have received an egg of the above named 
species during the past season, and thinking it 
would be interesting to the readers of the ORNI- 
THOLOGIST AND OoLocist to have a description 
of it, I herewith giveit. It was collected January 
12, 1880, by Captain Thos. Lynch, at Diegos, Kav- 
nen’s Rocks, 8. by E., fifty-two miles from Cape 
Horn. The nest was composed on the outside of 
tussocks of grass and mud, inside of fine grass 
