354 
SCOLOPACIDiE. 
eggs together—a circumstance not very uncommon with 
several other species of birds, and one which may probably 
account for our finding occasionally so many eggs in a nest 
of the blue titmouse. The size of the egg of this species 
is a strong argument against its laying more than four,— 
more, indeed, than it could possibly cover. The egg is a 
remarkable production for a bird so small, being as large 
as that of the pigeon and of the rook, and considerably 
larger than those of the magpie and partridge—birds three 
or four times its own size and weight. Some eggs of the 
Snipe have the ground-colour of a clear green, some are 
tinted with brown, darker than the first figure of the plate; 
a few are of a light blue, like a variety which I have des¬ 
cribed, in speaking of those of the dunlin. The first figure 
of the plate is the most typical, and the most unlike the 
eggs of any other species; the second closely resembles 
eggs of the purple sandpiper and the dunlin; the third, 
from the collection of Mr. Bond, is not so frequent. 
