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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. Coues remarks in the last edition of his "Key" that the eggs of P. fulicarius cannot be distinguished from those of Lobipes lobatus, a statement I cannot vouch for, as I have no eggs of the latter bird before me at the present writing. ? As Ridgway, Coues, Reed, and many other authors have published the sixe, 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, quite correct. Again, the shapes of the eggs here consid- ered are likewise easily to be appreciated from an examination o.f 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 o61ogical luxuries as correctly colored plates of the eggs of birds. All the eggs shown on-fig. 4?, including the phalaropes, are of nearly natural size. As a rule, the ground color of the eggs of the Red Phalarope (P. fulicari- us) is darker than that of the Wilson (?Cteganopus 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, buffy 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, ?he entire b,?tt is covered over with one large even blotch 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 phatarope average in size about ?.3 o x 0.9 o. The Recurvirostri&e are, in our avifauna, represented by two birds, the Avocet (Recurvirostra americana), and the BlaCk-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), 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 par- 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 Coues ("Key," vol. II, p. 79t), who says for this bird: "Eggs 3-4, as variable in size, shape, and markings as the parents; L8o-2.?o x ?.25-L45," 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 AVoc?ts' eggs, makes a truer statement, thus: "?.93 x ?.35, pale olive, olive-buff, or drab-buff (rarely creamy buff), thickly spotted (sometimes sparsely lined also) with dark brown or black" (Manual, p. ?46). Pale olive-buff is the ground color of the Avocets' eggs at hand, and the dark