Inly, 1913 STUDY OF THE ]?GGS. OF THE NORTH AMERICAN LIMICOLA]? 151 typical limicoline birds ? of the plover group. They are darker, being of a clear, olive-drab color, moderately dotted, chiefly over the larger half of the egg, with irregular black spots and fine little specks, lending to the surface a very delicate appearance on account of the elegant shade Of the ground color. Size: ?.4o?.5o by I.?O (Coues). "Varying from light olive to deep cream color, rather sparsely and irregularly speckled 'and lined with dark brown, black and pur- plish gray," is Ridgway's'description of the eggs of this plover. He rarely states how many there are to the set in the case of any of these smaller pluvialine spe- cies; but they probably run from three to four in nearly all the species, if not in all. All three of the species of oyster-catchers (Hwrnatopus) are to be found in Mr. Court's collection. They constitute a'beautiful series of eggs, and examples of all of them are given on fig. 46 of this paper (nos. 5?-54). As will be noted, they do not vary to any great extent; they run from a deep, dull, buffy shade to a creamy buff, with very pronounced, bold markings of big and little dots, blotch- es, fine specks, often coarse, scraggly lines and other irregular designs.. These are pretty evenly distributed all over the eggs, and are very striking,_ being either dull black, vandyke brown or bistre, often with lighter spots of pale gray. The sets run from two to three, and, I believe, never four. For our Oyster-catcher (Ha?rnatopus palliatus) Cones ("Key," 5th ed., p. 789) gives the measurements as "about 2.20 by ?.55." Those of the European species (H. ostralegus) are smaller, and, in the case of the specimens at hand, darker. In a paper I published in the Report of the U.S. National Museum for I892 (PP. 46?-493) entitled "Comparative O51ogy of North American ]?irds," I said, when commenting on the study of the eggs of the Limicola5 that the study of the o51ogy of this group is important, for "perhaps the greatest scientific tri- umph of o61ogists lies in their having fully appreciated the intimate alliance of the Limicola? (the great group of snipes and plovers) with the Gavi? (the gulls, terns, and other birds more distantly ?connected with them) before it was recog- nized by any professed taxonomist, L'Herminier, whose researches have been much overlooked, excepted; though to such an one was given the privilege of placing that affinity beyond cavil". (Huxley, P. Z. S., I867, pp. 426, 456-458; cf. Ibis, I868, p. 92) a The subject has, however, by no means been exhausted, and even our best reference "Keys" and "Manuals" are often derelict in the matter of giving any description at 'all of the eggs of the birds composing this important and interest- ing group. WITH THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON IN' SAN DIEGO COUNTY By LAURENCE M. HUEY N THE early summers during the past three years, extended camping trips have been made by the writer through the mountains of San Diego County, California, on which a good many interesting ornithological notes were tat:- en. Among them are some in regard to the Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba [as- clara), as observed in that region. On June 2?, I9IO, while driving slowly up the grade among the trees that 3. Newton. Aftred, Article "Birds", l?ncyclopaedia Brit?annica. p. 773.
