loz THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The eggs of wild birds are not very generally eaten in this 

 country, but in some localities those of sea-fowl are largely con- 

 sumed, and a considerable trade is carried on in gulls' eggs on 

 many of our coasts. There is a great demand for plovers' eggs in 

 the city markets for epicures. They are the eggs of the lapwing 

 (Vanellus cristatus), a bird which lays about four eggs of an 

 olive cast, spotted with black. These eggs come chiefly from 

 Holland, the home produce being now very small, and they are 

 received during the spring and summer, from March to June. 

 Mr. Yarrell, who wrote many years ago, mentions that two hun- 

 dred dozens of peewits' eggs were sent in one season from Rom- 

 ney Marsh to London. The eggs of many other species of birds 

 are imposed upon the Londoners in the place of plovers' eggs. 



In the sea islands of Alaska, the eggs of the thick-billed guille- 

 mot have an economic value, being the most palatable of all the 

 varieties found in the islands, and hence are much sought after 

 by the natives. The bird lays a single egg, large and very fanci- 

 fully colored. The shell is so tough that, in gathering them, they 

 are thrown into tubs and baskets on the cliffs, and poured out 

 upon the rocks with a single flap of the hand, just as a sack of 

 potatoes would be emptied, and only a trifling loss is sustained 

 from broken or crushed eggs. 



On the Faro Islands the number of eggs laid by the lesser 

 black-backed gull, and sent annually to shore for culinary pur- 

 poses, must be prodigious. The eggs of the common guillemot 

 lie there so close together that it is difficult to move among them. 



The eggs of the stork are very good eating, whether hot or 

 cold. The natural color of the cormorant's egg seems to be a 

 bluish green, like the usual variety of the common domestic duck, 

 but over this is a thick, white, irregular covering of lime, which 

 is frequently in such abundant quantity as to stand out in lumps 

 on the surface, seldom allowing much of the original color to be 

 visible. No doubt this superabundance of lime is produced by 

 the bones of the fish, of which this bird is said to eat prodigious 

 quantities, and perhaps also from shell-fish. 



Turtles' eggs are held in great esteem wherever they are 

 found, as well by Europeans as by others. They have a very soft 

 shell, and are about the size of a pigeon's egg. The mother turtles 

 lay three or four times a year, at intervals of two or three weeks. 

 An experienced eye and hand are required to detect the eggs, as 

 they are always ingeniously covered up with sand. The Orinoco 

 and Amazon Indians obtain from these eggs a kind of clear, sweet 

 oil, which they use instead of butter. In the month of February, 

 when the high waters of the Orinoco have receded, millions of 

 turtles come on shore to deposit' their eggs. The certainty and 

 abundance of the harvest is estimated by the acre. The yearly 



