Vol. xxix.] 100 



Spain, though in this case the birds had been subspecifically 

 distinguished. 



Ml'. J. M. GooDALL said that he had in his collection red 

 eggs of the Lapwing from widely separated localities in the 

 British Isles, and that this variety was always exceedingly 

 rare. 



Mr. BoRRER and Mr. Jourdain then agreed to collaborate 

 in the preparation of the list on the lines suggested^ and 

 Mr. BiDWELL and others undertook to supply information 

 with regard to certain species. 



Mr. Jourdain also exhibited the eggs of two species of 

 Sunbirds — Cinnyris falkensteini, Fisch. & Reich,, and 

 C mediocris, Shelley. The eggs of the former were described 

 in the 2nd edition of Nehrkorn's ' Katalog/ p. 275, but 

 those of C. mediocris were believed to be undescribed. They 

 were obtained together with the nests and parent birds, 

 skins of which were exhibited, at Njoro, British East Africa, 

 in October and December 1911, by Mr. W. M. Congreve. 



Of C. mediocris three nests were found in bushes and 

 among the slender boughs of young trees from 6 to 10 feet 

 from the ground. Each nest contained two eggs : the 

 first on the 22nd of October (much incubated), the second 

 on the 24th of October (slightly incubated), and the third 

 on the 29th of December (fresh). 



The nests were roughly spherical in shape, with the 

 opening near the top, but domed, about 4| in, in height and 

 3-3^ in. in breadth. The interior in each case was neatly 

 lined with flakes of plant-down, and the external materials con- 

 sisted of lichens, roots, grasses, &c. The eggs were elongate 

 in shape; the average size of four being 16*6 x 11*3 mm., 

 max. 17-1 X 11-3 and IGSxll-S, min. 16x11-2. They 

 were so thickly and uniformly covered with fine freckling 

 and marbling of light greyish-brown, which varied from a 

 warmer to a colder tint, that the ground-colour of greenish- 

 white, pale purplish, or olive-grey was almost obscured. 

 Compared with the eggs of C /'«/^e/<.9/ei«? they were decidedly 

 darker and more uniform in their markings. 



