452 



The Bird 



At one time the sandpipers and plovers were classed as 

 wading birds, and the gulls and terns in an Order placed 

 at a remote distance in the scheme of classification from 

 the former birds; no one suspecting that the two groups 

 were in any way related. The striking resemblance 

 which their eggs showed, however, suggested an affinity 



Fig. 357. — (a) Egg of common Tern compared with (6) egg of Black-necked Stilt 



w^hich was later perfectly confirmed by anatomists and 

 embryologists. 



The few thousands of years during which our race 

 has risen to inheritance of the earth is all too short 

 a time, geologically speaking, for us to flatter ourselves 

 that any of the protective colours of animals were de- 

 veloped on our account; but in many instances we, 

 sharing the same five senses of animals, may put our- 

 selves in their position. Imagining ourselves egg-hunting 



