We hope to group a number of eggs, to enable our readers to compare their size and shape, from that of the Epyornis, six times the size of an Ostrich egg, down to the tiny egg that is found in the soft nest of the Humming-bird. This gigantic egg is a foot long and nine inches across, and would hold as much as fifty thousand Humming-bird's eggs. THE SAW-WHET OWL. "The Lark is but a bumpkin fowl; He sleeps in his nest till morn; But my blessing upon the jolly Owl That all night blows his horn." A curious name for a bird, we are inclined to say when we meet with it for the first time, but when we hear its shrill, rasping call note, uttered perhaps at midnight, we admit the appropriateness of "saw-whet." It resembles the sound made when a large-toothed saw is being filed. Mr. Goss says that the natural home of this sprightly little Owl is within the wild woodlands, though it is occasionally found about farm houses and even cities. According to Mr. Nelson, it is of frequent occurrence in Chicago, where, upon some of the most frequented streets in the residence portion of the city, a dozen specimens have been taken within two years. It is very shy and retiring in its habits, however, rarely leaving its secluded retreats until late at eve, for which reason it is doubtless much more common throughout its range than is generally supposed. It is not migratory but is more or less of an irregular wanderer in search of food during the autumn and winter. It may be quite common in a locality and then not be seen again for several years. It is nocturnal, seldom moving about in the day time, but passing the time in sleeping in some dark retreat; and so soundly does it sleep that ofttimes it may be captured alive. The flight of the Saw-whet so closely resembles that of the Woodcock that it has been killed by sportsmen, when flying over the alders, through being mistaken for the game bird. These birds nest in old deserted squirrel or Woodpecker holes and small hollows in trees. The eggs--usually four--are laid on the rotten wood or decayed material at the bottom. They are white and nearly round.