29 



The lack of a standard color chart, or possibly in the majority of cases, 

 the absence of any guide whatever other than the eye and the describer's 

 own personal ideas of colors, alone prevents me from tabulating the notes 

 in some form or other, for they are very voluminous and bear evidence 

 of much labor and care. A straw will show the way the wind blows 

 however, and the descriptions emphasize my former remarks under this 

 heading. 



That "there is no honor among thieves," is an old saying, yet the 

 Crow has no enemy worth considering that is notoriously addicted to 

 robbing her nest, and protective coloration can have no special significence 

 to any' of the genus ; and if it were so, the bulky nest would prove an 

 effectual bar to any such hypothesis. We will have to look further for 

 an explanation of the color phenemena. Dr. M'Aldowie in his admirable 

 Obseri-atious on the Develofjnent and Decay of the Piff}nent Layer on 

 fiirds's Eggs, says, "All organic objects which are liable to be exposed 

 to the sun's rays are protected by one color or other " While this may be 

 and probably is true, with a number of exceptions ; yet why do the eggs 

 of so many widely distributed species, and the one under consideration 

 in particular, exhibit the heaviest and deepest colors in the more northern 

 ^portion of their breeding range ? That the sun is much more powerful 

 near the equator, no one will question. Admitting that the bird has no 

 power over the color of its eggs, it would appear that the more southern 

 egg would require the most protection and the " survival of the fittest" 

 would have obliterated all pale specimens long ago. The nest is seldom 

 shaded on account of its high position. I have often noted that the 

 brooding bird flies directly away from the sun when unexpectedly startled, 

 and always appears to keep her head directly opposite the sun when sit- 

 ting, on a warm, sunshiny day. While the tropical and sub-tropical 

 avianfaitna contains the most gorgeous and richly plumaged species, 

 the eggs are by no means colored in proportion. The leaves probably 

 afford more protection in the South in most cases, but not always ; an 

 evergreen affords like conditions where-ever found. 



It is obvious to me that the climatic conditions of the North have more 

 influence over the color and coloration by reason of the sudden changes 

 in the temperature from warm to cold, than that of the heat alone ; and 

 in lieu of a thicker shell, the pigment is used more liberally, the more 

 robust constitution of the bird rendering this, as well as the production 

 of a larger egg, possible. 



Coloration. — While the average writer may describe the ground color 

 of an egg fairly well, if he has a "Standard Nomenclature of Colors," 

 we all frequently fail to give the reader a clear conception of the coloration. 



