348 SEA-SIDE HOMES: ETC. 
varies decidedly; the differences may be reduced to two 
kinds, in one of which the color is very pale clear greenish- 
white, and in the other pale-dull drab or olive whitish, the 
latter apparently due to the mixture of a little brownish in 
the green. These colors are speckled all over with small 
splashes, irregular spots, and dots, of clear brown of several 
shades; and others of a paler, illy-defined, somewhat lilac, 
hue, appearing as if it were brown in the shell, instead of 
on the surface. The markings are often very evenly dis- 
tributed over the whole egg, but more frequently, perhaps, 
tend to form a circle, at or around the larger end, particu- 
larly in those cases where they are large and splashed. The 
point of the egg is often free from markings, or with only a 
few small dots. 
The Plovers eggs are of the same general pattern of 
coloration as the Terns', but are larger, and otherwise con- 
spicuously different. The variation, both in size and shape, 
is very considerable; thus one measures 1.45 by 1.05, and 
another only 1.22 by 1.00; a variation not only of absolute 
size but also of relative length of the long and short axes, 
resulting in a very decided difference of shape. All agree 
in having the greatest short diameter near the large end, as 
usual among birds of the order, and the difference is mainly 
due to a greater or less elongation and pointedness of the 
smaller end. The shorter axis varies only within narrow 
imits; but even in eggs taken from the same nest a differ- 
ence of .15 may be observed in the lengths of the long axes, 
with, of course, a corresponding discrepancy in contour. 
Tae ground color is difficult to name; it may be called pale 
olive-drab, more decidedly inclining to a greenish hue in 
some, and to a brownish in others. The eggs are thickly 
marked all over with brown so dark as to be almost black; 
the markings are in irregular, sharply defined spots, small 
Splashes, and fine dots. In some specimens the markings 
show a tendency to run into fine lines, and in these are 
smallest, darkest, most numerous and most sharply outlined ; 


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