Selected eggs of Corvus americiums cannot be distinguished by an 
expert from those of cam inns or ossi/'ragus ; but there is little danger 
of any but the most ignorant or dishonest persons confounding the sepa¬ 
rate species. The same may be said in relation to C. corax principalis, 
and cryftolcucus. Some very large and richly marked specimens col 
lected in Minnesota and described by Mr. Walton Mitchel, closely resem¬ 
ble the eggs of the Raven ; for instance : “ Five eggs. Dark green, spotted 
with purple and brown, some eggs having blotches on the large ends as 
large as .go x .60. Eggs: 1.80x1.31, 1.80 x 1.26, 1.79 x 1.28, 1.75x1.25, 
1.74 x 1.27. Five eggs. Dark green, very heavily marked with lilac-brown 
and dark purple. 1.94x1.40,1.90x1.35, 1.89x1.36, 1.89x1.38, 1.85x1.36. 
Four eggs. Three eggs light green, spotted with dark brown and purple. 
One egg. dark green, very sparsely spotted. 1.78 x 1.27, 1.78 x 1.26. 1.74 
xi. 22, 1.70X 1.20.” Mr. Frederick M. Dille, says : “ Several sets of their 
eggs will not show as great a variation in color and markings as will some¬ 
times the various eggs in a particular set. In this respect the eggs of the 
Raven differ, all the eggs in any one set resembling each other very 
closely. With little difficulty, however, a series of eggs of the American 
Crow could be obtained which would be very interesting on account of 
their variation.” It is altogether impossible for me to attempt to give an 
intelligible description of all the variations in the patterns and the colora¬ 
tion of the eggs of this species. Therefore I shall only give a few of the 
best descriptions, selected more for their variations than for the locality 
in which they may have been found 
Descriptions of Sets. —The collectors of the various sets are in all 
instances the describers of their respective sets, unless otherwise stated. 
Set I. — May 29, 1887. Berwyn, Chester Co., Pa. Collected by F. L. 
Burns. 5 eggs. Groundcolor, an indescribable greyish-green, unspotted. 
Ovate. Three eggs batched, the remaining two measure 1.54x1.16, 
1. 56 x 1.14. 
Set II. — April 15, 1891. Yakima Co., Wash. Collected by W. L. Daw¬ 
son. 5 eggs. Ground color, an indefinite light greyish-blue, boldly 
marked with well-defined blotches of dark hair-brown, overlaid w r ith 
fewer blotches of burnt umber, the blotches of both colors becoming 
larger about the larger ends ; there, are a few points of black also. The 
ground color is not very much obscured except at larger ends. This set 
is remarkably uniform in coloration. 1.69x1.14, 1.71x1.16, 1.69x1.14, 
1.64x1.12, 1.66x1.16 (Described by Lynds Jones.) 
Set III. — April 3, 1893. Shabbona, DeKalb Co., Ill. Collected by 
W. L. Dawson. 6 eggs. Light bluish-white. General appeareance, 
wood-brown. No. 1. Lilac : moderate blotches, extremely scarce. 
