Nov., 1913 NOTEvS ON THE EGGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN EIMICOEAF: 
197 
Vanelliis cristatus (or Vanellus vanellus). Lapwing. 
The general gronnd colors of the eggs of this species are clay of various 
depths and huffish olive with very black brown markings ; but among the eggs of 
this species there are some wonderful modifications, varying greatly both in color 
and markings and very difficult to describe. There is the palest grey stone color 
with very tiny black specks sparingly distributed ; a deeper stone color similarly 
spotted but with a blotch at the butt end ; another with a buffish olive ground 
color so completely dusted over with the tiniest specks of chocoloate brown as 
to almost obscure the ground color; a warm buff fairly evenly spotted with black 
brown and smeared over with a yellow ocher color ; another, greenish olive 
ground, with markings of blackish brown around the larger end of the egg and 
with a band of lighter ground color about one-fourth inch from the apex ; a 
lovely deep olive green with enormous blotches of black interspersed with streaks 
all over the egg' ; a net brown ground with smallest marking's of black brown ; 
and rarely a fi.ne red with darker markings of the same color, a color so absolutely 
unlike anything that we would expect in eggs of this species as to make one doubt 
its identity though I know of four sets of this variety in different collections. 
Generally the markings on the four eggs of a set show a great similarity to each 
other, but often there is one egg in a set totally distinct both in ground color and 
markings. Owing to the black brown markings, the general appearance of a 
series of these eggs (leaving out the varieties) is a sombre one. The eggs have 
no gloss. Number of eggs in set 4. Measurements; 1.87 x 1.34 inches. 
Charadiius dominicus. American Golden Plover. 
Surely Dr. Shufeldt is in error when he says the eggs of this species are al- 
ways much lighter in ground color and larger than those of Vanellus cristatus. 
Taking the ground color, I have never seen or heard of any eggs of C. dominicus 
as light in ground color as those of V . cristatus described previously, nor do the 
average measurements show that they are larger ; indeed I have a set of C. domi- 
nicus taken by Macfarlane in which the actual measurements, 1.8 x 1.35, are much 
smaller than a great many sets I have of V. cristatus. Owing to the reddish buff' 
ground color of the eggs of C. dominicus they appear to be brighter and hand- 
somer eggs. 
Charadrius pluvialis (or C. apricarius). European Golden Plover. 
Although this is not an American species the eggs are so beautiful that 1 
venture to give a description of some of them. These eggs are consid- 
erably larger and more richly colored than the eggs of either C. dominicus or V. 
cristatus. The description given by Dr. Shufeldt is much more applicable to the 
eggs of this species than to those of C. dominicus, and the measurements he gives, 
2.07 X 1.40 (Ridgway), are Ridgway’s measurements for C. pluvialis (or apri- 
carius) and not for C. dominicus. The ground color varies considerably, very 
pale buff’, mid buff, olive buff, light olive and mid olive, and a rich deep reddish 
brown buff, spotted and blotched with blackish brown and red brown, the two 
shades often appearing on the same egg, either separately in spots, or the lighter 
brown on the top of the darker, giving a very rich appearance to the eggs. The 
underlying markings are usually few in number, never very large and of a dark- 
ish gray. On many of the eggs the markings are small and are evenly distributed, 
on others the spots an-d blotches are large, often confluent, and covering most of 
the surface of the egg, but chiefly the heavy markings are massed at the large 
end, sometimes forming a zone and at other times a cap. The eggs have in some 
instances a little gloss. Number of eggs invariably 4. Measurements : 2.07 x 
1.4 inch. The eggs are pyriform in shape. 
