O — GROUND-COLOR OF SHELL NEITHER WHITE OR WHITISH, NOR BLUE OR 
BLUISH, OR GREEN OR GREENISH. 
No. 
Size of Eggs 
in Short- 
diameter. 
Size of Eggs 
in Long- 
diameter. 
Ground-color of 
Shell. 
How Marked, Color of Marks, etc. 
No. in 
a Set. 
Location, Position, Materials, 
Size, etc., of Nest. 
English and Latin 
Name of Bird. 
1 
1.80 to 2.00 
2.56 to 3.03 
Creamy or ligh t 
greenish -gray. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of 
various shades of chocolate-brown distributed 
over whole egg, but most plentifully at the 
base; not often much confluent. Deep shell- 
marks purplish. 
2 
Nest in hollow trees and stumps or 
upon the ground in woods, often in un- 
expected places in upland woods. No 
materials are carried for the nest. When 
on the ground, eggs laid on leaves, etc. 
Turkey Buzzard. 
Cathartes aura. 
2 
1.70 to 1.94 
2.30 to 2.80 
Light, soiled huff. 
Marked over entire shell with spots and 
speckles, rarely blotches, of a deep shade of 
the ground-color or yellowish-brown ; most nu- 
merous about the base. Nearly every egg has 
at least one group of spots larger and darker 
than the rest. 
10 to 20 
Nest on the ground in rvoods with un- 
derbrush, under top of fallen tree, beside 
a log, among bushes, etc. A hollow is 
scratched in the soft loam and covered 
with dead leaves; on these the eggs are 
laid. 
Wild Turkey. 
Meleagris gallopavo 
americana. 
3 
1.48 to 1.55 
1.90 to 2.00 
Brownish, some- 
times dirty white. 
Marked with clouds, blotches, spots, and 
speckles of reddish-brown or yellowish-brown, 
of various shades. Some eggs are sparingly 
and regularly marked; others are so heavily 
marked at one end as to conceal the ground- 
color; others are marked chiefly with deep 
shell-marks, which appear lavender. 
3 to 5 
Nest in trees in damp woods and 
wooded swamps. Composed of sticks, 
weed-stems, grasses, etc. Built in March 
or April. 
Broad-winged Hawk. 
Buteo penusylvanicus. 
4 
1.25 to 1.38 
1.75 to 1.90 
Light drab or yellow- 
ish-brown. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles 
of dark Vandyke-brown. Some eggs contain 
a number of bold blotches; others are entirely 
speckled. The shell is usually pretty uni- 
formly covered; eggs more than ordinarily 
pointed. Deep shell -marks not plentiful, 
Payne’s gray or neutral tint. 
3 to 4 
Nest in upland fields of grass, clover, 
wheat, etc., usually near water, on the 
ground. Composed of a little grass, 
weed-stems, etc., carelessly puttogether. 
Bartram’s Sandpiper. 
Bartramia longicauda. 
5 
1.22 to 1.32 
1.70 to 1.95 
Grayish or pale 
brownish-buff. 
Marked with dots and speckles of sepia, dis- 
tributed uniformly and plentifully; rarely 
confluent. Few marks are larger than a pin’s 
head. 
8 to 10 
Nest in marshes, etc.., situated on the 
ground among reeds, grass, etc., or a foot 
or so above the water among reeds. 
Composed of dead reeds, grasses, etc. 
Rather bulky; shallow. 
American Coot. 
Fulica americana. 
6 
1.20 to 1.30 
1.65 to 1.75 
Light clay color, 
brownish or yellow- 
ish-olive. 
Some eggs are almost unmarked; others are 
uniformly speckled more or less plentifully 
with brown. 
Sto 12 
Nest in tall grass in open prairie land. 
Composed of grass, weed-stems, etc. 
Prairie Hen. 
Cupidonia cupido. 
7 
1.18 to 1.25 
1.58 to 1.63 
Reddish, flesh-tint, 
faint yellowish or 
grayish. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles 
of umber, inclining to brown-madder. Many 
marks are beneath the surface and appear of 
different tints, accordingto their depth; marks 
never very numerous. 
8 to 10 
Nest in marshy places overgrown with 
grass, flags, reed's, lilies, etc. Composed 
of grass, reeds, flags, etc. 
Red-breasted Rail. 
Rallus elegans. 
S 
1.12 to 1.26 
1.55 to 1.84 
Pale brownish buff. 
Marked plentifully with small blotches, 
speckles, and dashes of rich chocolate-brown. 
Markings larger and more numerous toward 
the greater cud. 
6 to 10 
Nest in marshes, etc., usually sup- 
ported by the foot-stalks of a clump of 
flags or grass. Floating nests sometimes 
occur. Composed of dried reeds, weed- 
stems, etc. About 8 inches in diameter 
at base; 5 or 6 inches high; diameter at 
top about 6 or 7 inches. 
Florida Gallinule. 
Gallinula galeata. 
9 
1.10 to 1.20 
1.44 to 1.65 
Brown, varying from 
a light shade of Van- 
dyke to bistre : also 
yellowish-brown. 
Marked not very plentifully with blotches, 
spots, and speckles of a darker shade of 
ground-color; often confluent at the base, 
where they are the most numerous. Deep 
shell-marks purplish or neutral tint. Eggs 
from last of February to May. 
4 
Nest on the ground in woods. Eggs 
laid upon a natural arrangement of 
leaves, or leaves may be carelessly ar- 
ranged in a depression at the foot of a 
bush, tree, etc. 
American Woodcock. 
Philohela minor. 
10 
1.05 to 1.23 
1.30 to 1.85 
Burnt sienna usu- 
ally; may be almost 
white, yellowish or 
reddish-brown. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles 
of reddish- or yellowish-brown. Blotches 
often so large as to cover one-fifth the shell. 
Generally the marks are few in number, but 
they may be numerous, especially at the base, 
where ground-color may be obscured. 
4 to 7 
Nest in trees, in natural cavities, or in 
deserted Woodpeckers’ nests. Uusually, 
the trees are old, dead, and semi-decayed, 
and stand alone in fields. Eggs in April 
or May. 
Sparrow Hawk. 
Tinnunculus sparverius. 
11 
.98 to 1.07 
1.40 to 1.48 
Smoky buff. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of 
brown, at times almost black. Distributed 
over entire shell; but marks are largest and 
most numerous on the basal end. Usually 
eggs contain several blotches; occasionally 
marked entirely with speckles. 
4 
Nest usually near water, along shore, 
or in recently plowed fields; also some- 
times in a grass or pasture field; always 
on the ground. Composed of a few 
sticks, weed-stems, etc., carefully laid in 
a little depression in the ground. Often 
eggs on bare ground. 
Killdeer. 
Oxyechus vociferus. 
12 
.90 to 1.00 
1.30 to 1.40 
Clay-colored or drab. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of 
reddish-brown, not very unlike the above 
(Killdeer). 
4 
Nest on the ground in open fields, or 
near the border of a wooded pond, etc. 
Said sometimes to lay in the nest of the 
Wood Thrush, etc. Birds not uncom- 
mon. but eggs never positively identified, 
in Ohio. 
Solitary Sandpiper. 
Rhyacophilus solitarius. 
13 
.85 to .98 
1.25 to 1.35 
Light y ellowish- 
brown or coffee- 
brown; also olive- 
green. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of 
sepia, so heavy as to appear black. Some eggs 
marked principally with largedistinctblotches 
and spots; some only with small spots and 
speckles, confluent about the base; others have 
various combinations of these marks. Deep 
shell-marks show bluish upon light ground- 
colors. Markings often obscured by a coating 
of mud. 
3 
Nest about large marshes; also along 
rivers, often considerable distance from 
shore; situated on a musk-rat house, an 
island of reeds, etc. No materials are 
carried for the nest. The eggs resting 
on ground or decaying vegetation. 
Black Tern. 
Hydrochelidon larifor- 
mis surinamensis. 
14 
.84 to .94 
1.13 to 1.30 
Light shade of yel 
lowish brown or stone 
color. 
Marked plentifully over the entire shell with 
blotches, spots, speckles, and short lines of 
slate color or yellowish-brown. 
2 
No materials are carried for the nest. 
Eggs laid on bare ground or rocks; also 
on the flat roofs of city houses, etc. 
Night Hawk. 
Chordeiles popetue. 
15 
.83 to .93 
1.15 to 1.30 
Light yellow-brown. 
Marked with reddisli-brown blotches, spots, 
and speckles, chiefly about the larger end. 
Usually there are deep shell-marks, violet- 
gray in appearance. 
6 to 10 
Nest in marshes and about wet 
patches of ground ; either upon the 
ground or upon some rubbish. Made 
of grass, weed-stems, reeds, etc. 
Virginia Rail. 
Rallus virginianus. 
16 
.80 to .90 
1.15 to 1.30 
Buff. 
Marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of 
brown, varying in shade in different eggs 
from light brown to almost black. Some eggs 
are heavily spotted; some have a few large 
blotches of color at the base; and some, the 
usual pattern, have bold spots and speckles, 
increasing in size and number from point to 
base. Deep shell-marks bluish. 
4 
Nest on the ground, always near water, 
in open places. Composed of small 
sticks, weed-stems, blades of grass, etc., 
placed in a little hollow. Often eggs are 
laid on the bare ground. 
Spotted Sandpiper. 
Tringoides macularius. 
XXXV111C 
