BIRDS' NESTS AND EGGS 365 



an open nest, and those of the latter are well adapted by their 

 colour to harmonise with surrounding tints. If warmth is 

 required in the one case, certainl}^ it should be in the other 

 also. Again, I have known the AYild Duck and some other 

 birds cover their eggs so completely as almost to defy detec- 

 tion, and that, too, long before they had commenced to sit 

 upon them, and when no warmth was required. I think, 

 therefore, that there can be little doubt that it is solely 

 from motives of concealment that these conspicuous eggs 

 are covered. 



But we find many conspicuous eggs laid in bare open 

 places that are not concealed in such a cunning manner. We 

 can take as an instance the Short-eared Owl that lays her 

 white eggs on the open fens and marshes, or many of the 

 Goatsuckers which deposit their white eggs in flimsy open 

 nests. How are such eggs protected ? The plumage of these 

 birds is remarkably protective and assimilates very closely 

 with the surroundings ; moreover, they possess the habit of 

 sitting very closely, conscious that they resemble the ground 

 or branches and cannot readily be seen ; and so they brood 

 over their conspicuous eggs, shielding them by their sober 

 plumage. We might also notice another rather puzzling in- 

 stance belonging to this group, and that is to be found amongst 

 the Pigeons. The nests of nearly all these birds are remarkably 

 similar — platforms of twigs built in trees, rocks, or on the 

 ground ; and the eggs are in all cases, so far as is known, 

 white, or nearly so, and spotless. Pigeons' nests are very 

 slight and inconspicuous, and, as a rule, built in the dense 

 cover ; moreover, the birds themselves are excessively wary. 

 Again, the very fact that these birds are so abundant and so 

 widely spread over the world, notwithstanding their white 

 eggs and open nests, is in itself strong evidence that these 

 birds and their eggs are not much exposed to enemies or are 

 well able to elude them, and also shows us how cautious we 



