Page:Condor16(4).djvu/16

174 THE CONDOR .Vol. XVI cit.) says that the eggs of C. n. californicus are "bluish white, with the usual chalky and discolored appearance," and he gives the size as 1.75xl.20. Ridg- ?vay does not describe them, simply stating "Eggs 4-8, 1.75x1.10." Audubon had but confused ideas about our smaller grebes and their eggs, so it is quite useless to cite him as an authority on these interesting birds. Nos. }7 and 8 here figured are of a pale clay color, no. 7 being three or four shades darker than no. 8. Possibly they may be stained in the usual way; but they do not appear to have any chalky deposit upon the?n, and they vary some- xvhat in shape. No. 7 measures 1.61xl.24, and no. 8 1.75x1.19, while other eggs of this subspecies at hand average somewhat smaller in size. Eggs of the Mexican Grebe (Colymbus dominicus brachypterus), here shown in fig. 51, nos. 5 and 6, are often of an earth brown color and blotched; others are lighter, but still exhibit the same blotched or marbled appearance on a light clay-ground. As usual, they vary in for?n and size. No. 5 measures 1.40xl.00. Reed gives the average size as 1.40x.95, and there is a speci?nen in Court's collection which is exactly of that size. Frank B. Armstrong of Brownsville, Texas, collected nos. 5 and 6, and others also at hand (May 26, 1906). It was near his home, and a large colony of the birds were associated together. Their nests were composed of decayed grass and weeds. The eggs described by Reed (loc. cit., p. 3) were taken by the same inveterate collector on ]che same date as above, and Reed gives the color as "deep buff or rich brown," which is correct. Clutch 3-5. Coues did not describe the eggs of.this subspecies; but of the extralimital grebe, Colymbus dominicus, he says: "eggs usually 7, 1.35x0.95," without giv- ing either their color or form (lo. it., p. 1058). Our Pied-billed Grebe or Dabchick (Podilymbus podiceps), the eggs of which are here shown in fig. 51, nos. 9 and 10, breeds in various regions throughout North and South America, being very rare in so?ne localities; its eggs have been very differently described by various writers on ornithology. Audubon apparently never discovered but one nest of this bird--or what he supposed to be this bird--and it contained five eggs. He describes them as measuring "an inch and a quarter, by seven and a half-eights," and they were "smooth, rather rounded, and of a light greenish-white colour." With respect to the color, he was about right; but I have never seen a "rather rounded" grebe's egg, and his measurements are certainly away off. Coues says not a word about their color or form, stating simply: "Eggs 4-6 or more, 1.70x0.95" (loc. cit., p. 1059). Reed gives their color as "deep buff"; the clutch 5-9, and the size as 1.70x 1.18 (loc. cit., p. 5). There are four of these eggs before me, taken from a set of five (set mark 9-5). They were collected by Dan Spencer in Iowa ("Town Cr. Bluff") on the 13th day of June, 1895. "Nest of mud and rushes floating in water." (See fig. 51, nos. 9 and 10.) I find these eggs to be of a pale greenish- white, with little or no chalky deposit upon them whatever. As usual, they vary somewhat in form and size, measuring upon the average 1.70x1.19, individual specimens being either a little larger or somewhat mnaller than this, and some being rather more elongate than others. There can be no question in regard to the morphological similarity be- tween the loons of the genus Gavia and the grebes; and, structurally, a loon is much nearer Colymbus than it is to any auk (Alca, etc.). With respect to the eggs laid by the representatives of the genus Gavia, however, they are all very