EGG-BIRD, Hydrodelidon fuliginosum or sterna fuliginosa, a bird of the gull family, sometimes called the SOOTY TERN. It is fully larger than the common tern of the British shores; has a long, slender, nearly straight, compressed, sharp bill; very long, narrow, and pointed wings, and a long deeply forked tail; the general color is glossy black on the upper parts, except the forehead and the edges of the wings, which, with the under parts, are white. It abounds iu the West Indian seas, and is to be seen in myriads on and near some of the keys or low barren islets where it breeds. When visitors land on these keys, the disturbed birds rise and fly about in clouds which darken the air, whilst their turmoil overpowers even the roar of the breakers. The nest of the egg bird is merely a little excavation in the sand, and usually contains three eggs, which are fully 2 in. long, of a pale-cream color, sparingly marked with light-brown and purple tints. The eggs are esteemed delicious, and form an object of profitable adventure in the months of Mar., April, and May, to the crews of numerous small vessels, fitted out from
Kingston, Havana, and other West Indian ports. Curious customs prevail among the egg gatherers at the most frequented keys, and common consent has established a kind of code of laws among them. The eggs remain fresh and fit fOr use only for a short time. Along with the egg-bird, those of the noddy are alsogathered, and those of the sand wich tern and other allied s• pecks ; and the name' egg-baajoltiptiapt6A*fix, is sometimes extended in the West Indies to several of the terns.
Solanum *melongena, an annual usually less than 2 ft. high, with stem partially woody; fruit very much resembling an egg in appearance, and varying in size from that of a lien's egg to that of a swan's egg, in color generally white, yellow, or violet. The fruit is much used as food, not only jn the East Indies, of which the plant is a native, but in warm countries generally. The fruit is known by various names— as egg-apple, auberjine, brinjal, etc.