146 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XV 
in his ‘'Manual” does not commit himself either on the form or the color of the 
eggs of the European Snipe. 
I select for description among the eggs of the stilts and the sandpipers those 
of the Dunlin {Pclidna a. alpina). Mr. Court has four sets of four each of the 
beautiful eggs of this species in his collection, and from these I select, for illus- 
tration, the characteristic ones given on fig. 41, nos. 9-12. 
Passing over what Doctor Cones had to say in his “Key” about Dunlins and 
(heir eggs, we find that Ridgway, without giving any measurements, says of 
"Tringa alpina” that they (the eggs) are of a “pale olive-buff, spotted, somewhat 
s])irally (sometimes speckled), with different shades of vandyke-brown and pur- 
plish-gray” {loc. cif. ]). 159). Those before me are all of an extreme pale olive as 
to ground color, the various markings being a deep brown. These latter run all 
the way from large blotches to the finest of specks. They may be chiefly at the 
larger end, or they may not. Sometimes the larger blotches may all be at the 
butt, with a single one at the apex (no. 10). As Ridgwav truly says, the blotches 
are very often spirally inclined (no. ii), doubtless produced as the egg passes 
down the oviduct. In size these eggs average 1.40 x i.oo. 
Of the four godwits (Liniosa) found in the avifauna of this country, I select 
the eggs of the Black-tailed { L. liniosa) to represent their oology. Doctor Cones, 
in the last edition of his “Key,” had the godwits all mixed up, believing, as he 
states, the lludsonian Godwit (L. Iicvniastica) to be the "strict American repre- 
sentative" of the "European Black-tailed Godwit, K. liniosa'’ — and so on. Inas- 
much as this was the case, the descriptions of the eggs of godwits by that author 
would hardly be considered trustworthy. 
For Liniosa liniosa, Ridgway says on page 164 of his “Mannar’ : “Eggs 
2.17 X 1.50, deep grayish olive, indistinctly spotted with d,eeper olive-brown.” 
This description very neatly fits the four eggs of a perfect set I find in Mr. Court’s 
collection, a representative one of which 1 photographed, and which is here re- 
produced in no. 36 of fig. ..14. In one of these eggs the spotting is very faint and 
meagre, a confluent blotching being massed at the butt. 
Coming next to the willets, I have before me the eggs of both the Willet 
{ Cafoptroplwnis s. seinipalinatiis) (fig. 44, nos. 37, 38), and the Western Willet 
( C. inornatns) (fig. nos. 34, 35). These birds lay very striking and beaiv 
tiful eggs, and my figures faithfully portray them in all particulars save color. 
There is scarcely anv difiference between the eggs of the two species, judging 
from the sixteen specimens at hand, two sets of four eggs each for either bird. 
.An average one will measure about 2.13 by 1.53, the form of them being well 
shown in the figures. In ground color the}^ run from a very pale greenish olive 
or j)ale huffy to a somewhat darker brownish-olive. For the most part they are 
speckled, spotted, blotched all over, sometimes being a little heavier at the butts. 
Some of the specks are exceedingly fine, almost requiring a lens to see them. In 
color, these markings are of various shades of brown, lilac, and umber, the dark 
k.rown spots sometimes overlying the lilac-gra.y ones. Of these four sets, the 
pale.st egg was laid by a Western Willet. and the darkest one by the eastern 
s])ecies (no. 37). 
I do not happen to have at hand aiiy eggs of cither of our species of yellow- 
legs (Totanns), but I imagine they do not depart so very far from the Redshank 
{Totanns calidris) of Europe (fig. 42, nos. 18, 19), of which species I present the 
figures of two specimens, chosen from four sets of four eggs each. I'hese show the 
form and size (1.70 by 1.20, Swann) of these eggs very well, while the color and 
’.narkings exhibit very considerable variation. The ground color may be of a 
