352 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



as is usual in albinos ; the other members of the same brood, Mr. 

 Lowne was told, were of the normal colour. — Thomas Southwell 

 (Norwich). 



A Spotless Curlew's Egg. — On the 19th of May last I found, in a 

 nest placed in a tuft of rushes in a swamp, three eggs of Numenius 

 arguata. All of them were normal in size and shape, and two were of the 

 usual colour, having an olive ground and dark brown and grey blotches, 

 while the third was of a clear bluish green and unspotted. In colour 

 it resembled a Heron's egg. I think this variety must be very rare, 

 and I should much like to know if any of your readers have ever met 

 with one anything like it. — E. A. Swainson (Woodside, Brecon). 



Breeding of Lesser Black-backed and Herring-Gulls. — Would Mr. 

 Elms more clearly define what he means (ante, p. 308) by " Lesser 

 Black-back Herring-Gull's nest, containing one egg of the former bird 

 and two of the latter," and his subsequent observations in the next sen- 

 tences ? The difference between the eggs of the two species — darker 

 and lighter, &c. — alone is not sufficient for purposes of identification. — 

 J. A. Harvie-Bkown (Dunipace, Larbert, Stirlingshire, N.B.). 



[In answer to the above query of Mr. Harvie-Brown's — what I 

 meant when making use of the expression "Lesser Black-back = Her- 

 ring-Gull " was that there seemed a possibility, in this instance, of the 

 nest being common to both species, or, in other words, that these two 

 species were occupying the same nest, which contained one egg of the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull and two of the Herring-Gull. I quite agree 

 that the colourings and markings of these two birds' eggs are in- 

 sufficient for the purposes of proper identification, and with such 

 slight evidence as this I would not say that it was by any means an 

 established fact that these two Gulls frequently occupy the same nest. 

 Such a thing may at times happen, and on at least two occasions I met 

 with a nest that tended to point towards such an occurrence. I believe 

 the full clutch of eggs, both for the Herring-Gull and the Lesser 

 Black-backed Gull, is generally admitted to be three eggs, and all the 

 nests I saw, save the one quoted above, contained two only. I trust 

 this reply gives the information required. 



I read the Rev. Holroyd Mills's letter (ante, p. 317) with much 

 interest, and hasten to say that I did not see the Lesser Black-backed 

 Gull and Herring-Gull " sitting side by side on one nest." I fear that 

 the evidence is not sufficiently substantial to allow of its being a fact 

 that these birds do habitually occupy a common nest ; that birds do so 

 from mischance — perhaps more often than we are aware — admits of 

 no doubt, and Mr. Holroyd Mills furnishes us with an interesting 



