NOTES. 135 



necessary to make full use of the drill ; in two of them a slight 

 pressure of the drill only was required to penetrate a black 

 and rotten spot on the shells. In the fourth there was a slight 

 exudation of the contents through a small aperture with black 

 edges. The site, too, of the nest was abnormal, for it was 

 by the side of a small dead shrub, with a ragged robin and 

 another plant close by it. The nest itself was a depression in 

 damp moss. I find on reference to my notebook, that on 

 May 10th, 1906, there were on the same island three Ringed 

 Plover's eggs (normal) in a depression (lined with dead rushes) 

 in mossy soil — though possibly on this island there is no spot 

 that would give a normal Ringed Plover's nest, there is a 

 considerable tract on the mainland, some two or three hundred 

 yards off, where these birds nest in normal surroundings, 

 and here in 1906 and 1907 I found very similar eggs to the 

 faulty eggs of this year, it seems to me probable that they 

 were all laid by one and the same bird. H. Trevelyan. 



[Major Trevelyan has kindlj^ allowed us to submit the nest 

 and eggs to the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, who reports upon them 

 as follows : — " The eggs are certainly remarkable. The faint 

 streaks at the end suggest those of Sandpipers, and so does the 

 nest. However, I do not attach much importance to the 

 latter, as from Major Trevelyan's letter it is clear that the bird 

 only made the depression in the moss and placed one or two 

 straws in it. Measurements in this case give little help, and 

 weights are not of much use. White eggs are usually larger 

 than normally-coloured ones, and these are obviously imperfect 

 and prematurely laid, so that the weight would not be a safe 

 test. I think, however, I have found a good criterion in the 

 colour of the inside of the shell. Ringed Plovers' eggs, when 

 fresh, show a distinct greenish tint, which fades somewhat, 

 but is generally perceptible. Sandpipers' eggs I have always 

 found yellowish inside. These eggs show a very distinct 

 green when looked at against the light, and on that account 

 I should ascribe them to the Ringed Plover rather than to 

 the Common Sandpiper. A tendency towards the same 

 aberration occurs also in the case of the Lapwing, Ruff, and 

 Woodcock, but is rare among Limicoline birds on the whole. 



Dr. Ottosson tells me {in litt.) that he has a clutch of Ringed 

 Plover's eggs pale blue in colour, without any markings, and 

 there is an abnormal set in Mr. P. F. Bunyard's collection 

 with very pale bluish-green ground and a few fine jet-black 

 spots and large underlying dark grey blotches ; a clutch of 

 spotless bluish-green Curlew's eggs is recorded in the 

 'Zoologist' (1903, p. 352) from Brecon."— F. C. R. J.] 



