256 THe Wiuson BuLLETIN—Nos. 76-77. 
arate, prove in four instances out of five, that the smallest was 
also the initial, Dr. Coues remarked that he had noticed that 
the variation, however great, is less in absolute bulk than con- 
tour in eggs in general. : 
eggs 
Total 
Eggs Set AY. Max. lgth. Max.sm. di, Min.gth. Min.sm.di. 
9 1 1.89x1.50, 2.00(x1.44), (1.91x)1.57 1.72 (x1.42), (1.72x) 1.43. 
182. 2 1.91x1.52, 2.12(x1.54), (2.06x)1.69,1.74 (x1.52), (1.76x) 1.30. 
274 3 1.98x1.54, 2.15(x1.51), (2.02x) 1.64, 1.75(x1.53), (1.92x) 1.50. 
44. 4 1.89x1.52, 2.09(x1.52), (1.96x) 1.58, 1.80(x1.47), (1.82x)1.40. 
509 averaging 1.92x1.53, (49x39 mim.). Sets of 1 average .05x.03, 
sets of 2, .01x.01, and sets of 4, .03x.01 less, and sets of 3 (which 
are with sets of 2, the typical number) .01x.01; more than the 
general average. 
There appear no consistent geographical variations in size. 
whatever advantage is gained by the increase in the size of the 
set northward, up to the maximum dimensions in sets of three 
eggs, is lost again in the smaller measurements of sets of four 
eggs which are the production of northern birds exclusively. 
Minnesota is apt to produce the slim egg of maximum length 
and minimum diameter, while Pennsylvania, with New York 
second and New Hatnpshire and Verment third, produces an 
egg of average length and maximum diameter; in reality the 
egg of the greatest capacity. Ernest IH. Short gives the aver- 
age size as 1.93 and 1.55, and the largest egg he regards as 
really authentic 2.06x1.61, taken by L. C. Snyder in Oswego 
Co., N. Y. Some of my correspondents as well as myself have 
remarked upon the variation of individual eggs in lesser di- 
ameter, often exhibiting from .01 to .03 according to position 
af calipers. Offering a layman's explanation, this may be due 
to uneven pressure before deposition, or perhaps the weight 
of the bird’s body after deposition when the shell is more plas- 
tic C. F. Stone has noticed this variation in eggs of the Red- 
shouldered Hawk he has measured, also. In the oviduct of a 
breeding Broad-wing shot on April 28, ‘06, by a friend, were 
three eggs in formative process; the largest would probably 
have heen dropped in a short time, the shell was of a leathery 
