56 A Defence of Oology. Cst'^'juiy 



shade.' Could anything be more indefinite ? Why, this season, 

 which I spent at Lake Tahoe, I examined perhaps as many as a 

 hundred nests of this bird, mostly with eggs, and I can say 

 instead of Davie's two shades of brown, there are nearer twenty ! 

 In fact with the exception of the California Murre {Una troile 

 californicd) I know of no Californian eggs subject to wider 

 variation in colour. The markings run through various shades of 

 brown, from light grayish, yellowish, and reddish, to a blackish- 

 brown that is almost if not quite black. On some the light 

 purplish-gray markings, which are usually sparse and obscure, 

 predominate and form another type. I noted several sets 

 unmarked except for scrawls and blotches of blackish-brown and 

 purplish-gray around the larger end, being not greatly unlike 

 some specimens of the Redwing Blackbird I have seen. Others 

 again were uniform chocolate-brown with sometimes a blackish 

 scrawl or so on them. The ground colour, almost white in 

 some, was usually greenish- white, though sometimes a pure 

 light green. In shape they varied from almost globular to 

 elongate-ovate. 



" My third point is : Why is the study of eggs given such a 

 prominent place in bird magazines, and yet so neglected in our 

 scientific institutions ? (Of the latter I can only speak of those 

 on the coast.) I remember that the Californian Academy of 

 Sciences, before the fire, had, in connection with the magnificent 

 collection of mounted birds and bird-skins, but one lonely little 

 case of eggs containing not more perhaps than would be taken 

 by the average collector in a season ; and at the present time, 

 in a prominent museum across the bay, I have been informed 

 that eggs are deemed of little importance : in other words, are 

 considered a mere ' side-show ' to the collection of birds. To 

 me, the fact that two classes of people, the small boy and the 

 commercial collector, have brought odium on egg-collecting, 

 can in no way detract from its importance ; and neither does the 

 fact that eggs are more or less dependent on the birds, inasmuch 

 as often the identity of the parents must be determined before 

 that of the eggs can be established. I believe it time to sound a 

 note of warning, for some time in the future eggs will be given 

 their proper place in bird study, and the coast museums should 

 have adequate space reserved for their accommodation. In fact, 

 I think a Californian museum, equipped with proper cabinets, 

 would soon accumulate quite an extensive collection through the 

 donations of club members and others, and some day, should 

 the interest that has been taken in geographical variation 

 extend to eggs, we will not have to send east of the Rockies 

 to borrow specimens ; for it is a well-known fact that the finest 

 collections of Californian eggs arc not where they should be, 

 here in California." 



