cyanocephalus), taken by a member of our party last May at Bishop, California, com- 

 prises two utterly distinct missing links, or reversions. One is almost the exact 

 counterpart of the normal egg of the Quiscaline Grackles. The other would almost 

 pass for the egg of an Agelaius. There is the same delicate green (pale glaucous 

 green) background, with sharp spotting of purplish black, and development of coronal 

 ring. It is worthy of remark in this connection that freaks, and those of quite 

 diverse significance, often occur in conjunction. It is as though certain parents gave 

 way before the struggle of conflicting ancestors and humored each in turn. Such 

 fortuities are the very open sesames of the doors of phylogenetic research. 



Another example from the same drawer is that of an egg of Agelaius tricolor, nor- 

 mally palest glaucous green, or lichen green, yet in this case buried in a snuff brown 

 smudge — indistinguishable thus from a typical Euphagus cyanocephalus egg. 



Now if cousinships, or ancestries more or less remote, may be traced by these 

 easily recognizable examples, what shall we say of freaks not so easily recogniz- 

 able? Shall we say that they are without significance? May they not be even more 

 highly significant? May they not, in fact, rehearse ancestries so remote that we 

 have lost the clue? And if so, where shall we find the clue, save in these delectable 

 "freaks" which nature has appointed for the guidance of the inquiring mind? Collect 

 normal types; yes. But for heaven's sake don't discard the unusual as being un- 

 wieldy or beside the mark. These are, rather, choicely feathered arrows aimed unerr- 

 ingly at distant targets. It is for the winnowing and the selection of these that the 

 M. C. O. is most solicitous. 



THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EGG IN THE WORLD. 



Of course that is a "scare head," meant to arrest attention. There may be other 

 eggs as good or even better; but if so, they would have to be of the same kind. 

 The egg in question is that of the Crab Plover, Dromas ardeola, kindly furnished us 

 by K. L. Skinner, Esq., the talented editor of the "O. E. M." Now, everybody 

 knows that plovers' eggs, especially those of northern species, like Charadrius apricar- 

 ius, and Squatarola squatarola, run very dark in coloration. They are protectively 

 colored, and must match the dark lichens under lowering skies. In fact, the eggs of 



.: ■■ . . ■■ "■'■' 



A Limicoline Contrast 

 Upper: Eggs of the European Curlew, Numenius arquata 

 Lower: Eggs of the Crab Plover, Dromas ardeola 

 The values of the delicate reminiscent marks of the left hand specimen are nearly lost in the half-tone. 



all other known Limicolae are protectively dotted and spotted and blotched on neutral 

 ground, and together they represent one of the most uniform of oological groupings. 

 Yet here in the egg of Dromas ardeola, the Crab Plover, is a vivid exception. Com- 

 parable in size to that of a "Whaup," Numenius arquata, the egg of the Crab Plover 

 is described as pure white. Nor can there be any question as to the position of the 

 bird, for it has been subjected to the most rigid examination. Dromas ardeola is 

 undoubtedly a Limicoline bird, related more or less closely to the Pratincoles. The 

 secret of the white egg lies in the fact that it is deposited, and doubtless has been for 

 ages, at the end of a burrow in the earth of certain islands in the Persian Gulf. We 



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