FALCO PEREGRINUS : DUCK HAWK. II5 



and most sparsely marked, in which latter the contrast 

 between the white ground and the blotches was strik- 

 ing. Of the darkest egg the writer says : " The gen- 

 eral color is chocolate-brown, darker and more dense and 

 uniform about the ends, the part about the middle being 

 lighter, varied with small irregular blotches and specks of 

 a darker tint than the ground color. The color of the 

 smaller end is a nearly uniform dull red ochre. There is 

 also an irregular belt of scattered and apparently very 

 superficial blotches of very dark brown or nearly black." 

 Two other eggs, as already mentioned, graded toward 

 the lightest, which is thus described : " The greater end 

 of the egg, which in the egg of most birds is the end most 

 subject to markings and to the greatest depth of color, 

 is white, sprinkled sparingly with reddish specks ; while the 

 smaller end is deep bright brick-red, here and there re- 

 lieved by small specks and patches of white ground color. 

 About the middle of the egg the colors are in more equal 

 proportions, the white patches becoming larger on the 

 smaller end toward the middle, and the red patches on 

 the larger end increase toward the same point, where the 

 colors meet and become mixed in irregular patches of 

 various sizes, from mere dots to blotches." 



Mr. Allen continues the subject in his latter communi- 

 cation to the American Naturalist (iii, 1869, p. 514). 

 " One or more pairs of these birds have been seen about 

 Mounts Tom and Holyoke every season since the first 

 discovery of their eggs at the former locality, in 1864. 

 Mr. Bennett has since carefully watched them, and his 

 frequent laborious searches for their nests have been 

 well rewarded. In 1 866 he took a second set of eggs, 

 three in number, from the eyrie previously occupied. 

 In 1867 the male bird was killed late in April, and this 



