THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIEDS' NESTS AND EGGS 



It is my intention to devote the closing pages of this 

 volume to a few remarks on the Nests and Eggs of birds. 

 These charming objects are almost universally regarded as 

 simple spoil for the cabinet — pretty things to gaze upon from 

 time to time, like old china and other bric-a-brac, with no 

 interest beyond their exceeding beauty. By him who takes 

 delight in prying into Nature's secrets they are, however, re- 

 garded from a very different point of view. Close and unceas- 

 ing observation has enabled him to read their long important 

 history, and to trace the relationship of their varied tints 

 and intricate design with the economy of the feathered 

 creatui-es that produce them. 



Let me first of all strongly impress upon the reader that it is 

 impossible satisfactorily to study the egg or the nest of a bird 

 away from the bird itself — the two objects are inseparably 

 linked together. Most necessary, therefore, is it to have the 

 bird and its life-history before us when studying the egg, with 

 its varied tints, and the nest that contains it, with its infinite 

 diversity of structure and position. In the first place, a word 

 must be given to the plumage of birds : Let us see how 

 the beautiful and harmonious colours of their plumage are 

 related to their nesting economy. Birds rank high in the 

 scale of beauty — of all other living forms but few, if any, excel 

 them in the richness and variety of their outer covering. The 



