The eggs of this species average .65 of an inch in length and .50 in breadth. They are, in color, in striking contrast with those of the _C. stellaris_, being so thickly marked with blotches and spots of a deep chocolate-brown as to be almost of one uniform color in appearance. They are of an oval shape, at times almost spheroidal, one end being but slightly more pointed than the other. They number from six to nine. In a few instances eggs of this species from the Mississippi Valley and from California are of a light ashy-gray color, the markings being smaller and of a much lighter color. * * * * * We have thus completed the account of the Oscine Singing-Birds with slender bills not hooked at the end, and which have ten distinct primaries; the first or outer one, however, either quite small or else considerably shorter than the second. We now come to a series with only nine primaries, the first being entirely wanting, and the second, now the outermost, nearly or quite as long as the third. In the preliminary tables of general arrangement will be found the comparative characters of the different families of _Oscines_, but the diagnosis of the series referred to is presented here, as follows:— COMMON CHARACTERS. Primaries nine; the first quill nearly as long as the second or third. Tarsi distinctly scutellate the whole length anteriorly. Bill conical, but slender or depressed, usually, except in _Cærebidæ_, half the length of the head; more or less bristled, or notched. Nostrils oval or rounded. Lateral toes nearly or quite equal, and shorter than the middle; the basal joint of the middle free nearly to its base externally, united for about half internally. Motacillidæ. Bill slender. Culmen slightly concave at base. Legs long; claws but little curved. Hind toe considerably longer than the middle one; its claw much longer (twice) than the middle claw; all the claws but slightly curved. Innermost secondaries (so-called tertials) elongated, much longer than the outer secondaries; and the fifth primary emarginated at end. Nest on ground. Sylvicolidæ. Bill rather slender, conical, or depressed. Culmen straight or convex. Hind toe shorter than the middle; the claws all much curved. Hind claw not conspicuously longer than the middle one. When the hind toe is lengthened, it is usually in the digit, not the claw. Tertials generally not longer than the secondaries, and not emarginated. Gape wide; tongue slightly split at end. Nest variously placed. Cærebidæ. Similar to _Sylvicolidæ_. Bill generally longer; equal to head or more. Gape of mouth narrow; tongue generally much fringed at the end. Nest on trees. The _Tanagridæ_, the _Fringillidæ_, and even the _Icteridæ_, come very near these families, as will be explained farther on, all agreeing in having the nine primaries, and in many other characters. FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ.—THE WAGTAILS.