438 G. E. Verrill — Some Birds and JEggs collected at 



Gough Islaod "quite a little smaller" than at the other islands, and 

 this statement is borne out by the specimens obtained and by the 

 eggs, as will be shown below. Mr. Moseley, on p. 172 of his " Notes,'* 

 speaks of the albatross' nests on Marion Island as being " a foot and 

 a half at least in diameter at the top." And a little further on he 

 speaks of their holding their Qgg in a pouch, a statement I have 

 never seen anywhere else and it seems much more probable that the 

 Qgg is held between the thighs or in a fold in the thick, loose skin 

 and dense feathers of the belly. He says, " They need a good deal 

 of bullying with the stick before they stand up in the nest and let 

 one see whether they have got an egg there or no. Then the Qgg is 

 seen to appear slowly out of the pouch in which it is held during 

 incubation." 



The six eggs from South Georgia average 5"28 X 3*20, with an aver- 

 age capacity of 440 cubic centimeters. The largest measures 5-50 X 

 3-24, capacity 470*^^ ; the smallest 5-12 X 3-06. The 87 eggs from 

 Gough Island average 5 -00X3 03, capacity 365^^ The largest meas- 

 ures 5*15 X 3*24, capacity 435"='^ ; the smallest 4-74x2'85, capacity 315^^. 

 It will be seen that the average South Georgia egg is larger than the 

 largest from Gough Island and the smallest of the former is larger 

 than the average of the latter. In speaking of the extremes I mean 

 those with the largest and smallest cubic contents, others are some- 

 times larger or smaller in one dimension, but the other more than 

 makes up the difference, as will be seen by the subjoined table. 



The shape varies much, but is generally an elongated ovoid, some- 

 times approaching, and in a few becoming an almost perfect, ellipsoid. 

 Our large series certainly does not agree with the description of Drs. 

 Kidder and Coues.* They say, "The Qgg is single, elliptical in 

 longitudinal section, and but slightly thicker at the large than at the 

 small end. Only occasional specimens tend somewhat to the ovoid 

 form." The large majority of the eggs before me tend very decid- 

 edly to the ovoid form. The shell is of a rather coarse texture, the 

 surface rather rough and marked with small pits and depressions. 



The ground color is white, generally marked with small specks, 

 and a few larger blotches, of reddish brown, generally thicker at, 

 and in some cases forming an irregular wash over, the large end. 

 This color on the surface is very superficial and after the Qgg has 

 been kept a long time in a very dry place, the larger spots show a 

 tendency to scale off taking with them some of the shell beneath. 



* BuU. Nat. Mus. No. 3, p. 12. 



