144 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



and clown. Every now and then odd birds will 

 dash from the rocks with a startling whirr of wings 

 and appear to tumble head-first down into the sea-; 

 now and then perhaps a dozen may be seen stand- 

 ing quietly over their eggs, anxiously watching 

 every movement, some poking their treasure from 

 under them, others dashing away at once and 

 knocking ofF their egg in their eagerness to get 

 away. I have repeatedly remarked that the eggs 

 of the Guillemots breeding on the Bass are, speak- 

 ing generally, much handsomer than the eggs of 

 the same species obtained at the Fame Islands, 

 which seems to suo-g-est that the colour standard 

 has been lowered by the incessant selection of the 

 finest marked eggs by collectors, combined with the 

 ease with which they may be obtained at the latter 

 locality. There can be little doubt — indeed I have 

 collected much evidence in support of the fact — 

 that the power or capacity in a bird of producing 

 exceptionally handsome eggs is an inherited power, 

 and that it is continued season after season. In 

 places, therefore, where the eggs are much taken, a 

 bird has little chance of transmitting this power to 

 posterity, and in the course of time these exception- 

 ally beautifid eggs gradually become extinct. The 

 same remarks I found also to apply to the Guille- 



