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An ornithologist of the Palaeontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Mikhailov has been investigating avian taxonomy and phylogeny based on the micro-structure of egg-shells. After a description of basic eggshell structure, both micro- and ultra-structure, there follows a photographic atlas of scanning electron micrographs of eggshells, accompanied by explanations of their taxonomic significance. This is the first compilation of its kind and it sheds new light on the relationships between different non-passeriform groups which do not always follow current phylogenies based on DNA or other charecteristics.