142 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XV 
than those laid by the Red Phalarope, while the color and markings are quite dif- 
ferent in the two species. Cones remarks in the last edition of his “Key’’ that the 
eggs of P. fulicarius cannot be distinguished from those of Lohipes lobatns, a 
statement I cannot vouch for, as I have no eggs of the latter bird before me at 
the jiresent writing. 
As Ridgway, Cones, Reed, and many other authors have published the siza 
of*all the eggs described below, in most cases based on large series of specimens 
(averages), I have not deemed it necessary to enter very extensively into this 
part of my subject. Moreover, I have tested some of the data here referred to, 
and I find it, as a rule, cpiite correct. Again, the shapes of the eggs here consid- 
ered are likewise easily to be appreciated from an examination of the figures, as 
these latter are absolutely accurate. It is quite another matter when we come to 
color, and there are but few ornithological magazines that can afford to publish 
such oological luxuries as correctly colored plates of the eggs of birds. 
All the eggs shown on fig. 41, including the phalaropes, are of nearly natural 
size. As a rule, the ground color of the eggs of the Red Phalarope (P. fnlicari- 
iis)'\s darker than that of the Wilson (Stegaiiopus tricolor), being of deep green- 
ish-olive ; while the markings upon the eggs, even in a single set, vary very con- 
siderably. They are, however, of a dark bistre brown, being blotched over the 
egg irregularly, though principally at the butt and middle. There are also, in 
the same color, scraggly markings and innumerable fine little specks, the whole 
effect being a dark egg, thickly marked nearly all over with a rich, deep brown. 
Eggs of Steganopus tricolor also vary somewhat in size and shape, and still 
more in their color pattern (nos. 5-8). The ground color of those before me is 
of a light, huffy clay shade, with the markings a deep chocolate brown, or brown- 
ish-black. The distribution of these markings is well shown in nos. 5-8. In the 
case of the egg shown in no. 6, the entire butt is covered over with one large 
even hlotch of this deep brown color. Only a part of this shows in the figure ; 
but when the egg is viewed end on, this big blotch covers more than half the area 
in view. In some sets, the speckling is mostly fine, with only a few scattered 
larger dots, as shown in nos. 7 and 8. The eggs of this phalarope average in size 
about 1.30 X 0.90. 
The Rccurvirostridcc are, in our avifauna, represented by two birds, the 
.\vocet {Rccurz’irostra amcricana) , and the Black-necked Stilt [ Himantopus 
mcxicanus ) , eggs of both of which I have been enabled to present figures of here. 
Avocets’ eggs are shown on fig. 42, nos. 23-2;5, and those of the Stilt on fig. 
45, nos. 46 and 47. As we would naturally expect to find them, the Avocet’s eggs 
are larger than those of the Stilt, though sometimes their markings are alike in 
pattern, as will be appreciated by comparing nos. 25 and 46. Eggs of the Amer- 
ican Avocet vary somewhat in color, form, and size ; but, judging from the six- 
teen eggs of this species before me at this writing, these variations are in no pai - 
ticular as great as we find it to be the case in some other limicoline species. 
This statement does not agree with the description given by Cones (“Key,’ 
vol. II, p. 791), who says for this bird: “Eggs 3-4, as variable in size, shape, and 
markings as the parents; 1.80-2.10 x i. 25-1.45,” followed by a description of the 
colors, markings, etc., that does not agree with the specimens in Mr. Court’s col- 
lection. Ridgway, who says not a word about the varying of Avocets’ eggs, 
makes a truer statement, thus: “1.93 x 1.35, pale olive, olive-buff, or drab-buff 
(rarely creamy buff), thickly spotted (sometimes sparsely lined also) with dark 
hrown or black” {Alauual, p. 146). 
Pale olive-buff is the ground color of the Avocets’ eggs at hand, and the dark 
