24 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



series have these faint spots and blotches of dull purplish or 

 brownish, which appear to be below the surface, just as 

 though a coat of the ground color had been put over them. 



The external spots and blotches vary greatly in size, number, 

 and color. In size they range from minute dots to blotches 

 the area of a dime. In number they vary greatly — some eggs 

 being dotted over the entire surface, others being marked with 

 both large and small spots, others with a few large 

 spots and blotches, and in addition to these styles 

 there is every conceivable sort of intermediate. How- 

 ever, no absolutely immaculate eggs occur in the series. 

 As a rule, the markings are heaviest at the larger end of the 

 egg, and very often the majority of the spots are at that end. 

 In some specimens they are most numerous just below the 

 larger end, forming sort of a wreath or zone. 



The markings of a single egg may vary much or little in 

 color. Usually there are several different shades of brown 

 and reddish brown on a single specimen. In one case the 

 markings range from cinnamon to seal-brown. In specimens 

 with a white ground they partake more of brown than of red, 

 while in specimens with a cream ground the reverse is true. 

 On three or four specimens the reddish brown markings have 

 a blurred aspect. Mr. A. F. Basset Hull, in his paper on 

 The Birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, describes and 

 figures similar variations.^ 



Three hundred and seventy-six eggs in the Academy's series 

 yield the following extreme and average measurements : 

 Length 44-59.2 mm. (50.6 mm.); breadth 33.2-38.5 mm. 

 (35.9 mm.). 



Anous stolidus : Noddy 



Abingdon, Albemarle, Barrington, Bindloe, Brattle, Cham- 

 pion, Charles, Chatham, Culpepper, Dalrymple, Daphne, Dun- 

 can, Gardner-near-Charles, Gardner-near-Hood, Hood, Inde- 

 fatigable, islet off northeast James, James, Jervis, Nameless, 

 Narborough, Onslow, Seymour, Tower, and Wenman islands. 



Noddies of the indigenous dusky variety were quite com- 

 mon throughout the archipelago, and were seen on the sur- 

 rounding sea to a distance of about sixty-five miles. 



'P. L. S. N. S. W., V. 34, p. 655. pi 50. 



