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 Nov.,1915 NESTING 01 THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 221 the snow and their tracks in it. I did not know who they were, but could they have heard my remarks regarding them, we should doubtless have become much better acquainted. From here we proceeded, in a disgusted mood, to the other nest in which we had left four eggs, and finding the bird on the nest, presumably laying an egg, left it undisturbed. Returning toward evening, after a further fruitless search, I found the bird still on the nest, and after thinking the matter over and deciding that I might, between foxes, weasels and bipeds, lose that set also, I took both the bird and the eggs (now five) from the nest, which was now nearly dry. In preparing the skin of the bird that evening, we carefully examined the Fig. 75. E6as OF VHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN, THE FIVE SPOTTED ONES TAKEN FROM TI-IE IiEST, THE UNMARKED ONE ER01 THE OVIDUCT OF THE BIRD CAPTURED ON THE NEST. ovary and oviduct which contained six eggs ranging from the size of a bean to practically a full sized egg. The measurements in inches of the five eggs taken from the nest were: 1.73x1.15, 1.72x1.15, 1.72x1.13, 1.75x1.13, 1.72x1.15. The measurements of the egg taken from the oviduct were slightly less, being 1.70x1.10, with no perceptible difference in thickness or firmness of shell; but what impressed me as unusual was the fact that this egg was pure white, with no indication of any markings whatever, whereas the five eggs taken from the nest, notwithstanding the fact that much of the time they had been partly immersed in water, some of them for nearly a week, were all uniformly and nor-