30 BOMBAY DUCKS 



pot, hoping that the birds would continue the construc- 

 tion of the nest. But they quickly discovered that 

 something was wrong, held a consultation, and came to 

 the conclusion that the foundations were shaky, so built 

 a second nest on a sound leaf 



As soon as the nursery is ready, three, four, or five 

 diminutive eggs are laid in it. The tailor-bird, like 

 several other species, lays more than one type of egg. 

 In this case there are three varieties : those with a white 

 background with red blotches, those whose surface is 

 white and but faintly speckled with red, and those 

 which have a blue background blotched with red. 



This presents a difficult problem to those who believe 

 that birds' eggs are coloured so as to render them 

 inconspicuous. I am unable to share this belief. In 

 nine cases out of ten, eggs are conspicuous objects in a 

 nest, and, even if they were not, it would be difficult to 

 persuade me that a bird, which habitually devours the 

 eggs of other birds, which is, so to speak, a professional 

 egg-stealer, would, when it has once discovered a nest, 

 be deceived into thinking it were empty because its 

 contents were inconspicuously coloured. 



When a burglar has broken into a house he does not 

 at once leave it because he does not see the silver on 

 the dining-table. Nor does an egg-stealing bird which 

 has discovered a nest leave it without first carefully 

 scrutinizing the interior. Instinct teaches birds to 

 build their nests in hidden places, and if, in spite of 

 this, the nest is discovered, it is then too late to think of 

 saving the eggs. 



The case of those birds which do not construct nests^ 



