874 BRITISH BIRDS. 



reptilian tail, fringed on either side by a series of long- 

 feathers, which would have made nidification in the 

 circumscribed sj)ace of a tree-trunk a very difficult matter. 

 More probably this ancient bird found suitable nurseries 

 on the summit of the dead stools of giant tree-ferns, or 

 the crowns of evergreen oaks and similar trees, which had, 

 at this time, already made their appearance, or even, 

 perhaps, on the ground. As the open country gradually 

 became tenanted by the evolution of non-arboreal birds, 

 the bare ground probably at first sufficed, till later, by the 

 increased persecution of enemies, which would soon discover 

 the edible j)roperties of eggs, convenient holes amid rocks, 

 and natural burrows would be appropriated. 



Those which clung to the more traditional custom of 

 lajdng their eggs in the open were probably the earliest 

 to produce coloured eggs, the colour being slowly evolved 

 to secure some measure of protection. But this by the 

 way. The habit of depositing the eggs on the ground has 

 persisted till to-day, in spite of obvious disadvantages. 

 And it is from such species that the evolution of m-st- 

 building may probably be gleaned. There are many 

 species of ground-breeding birds, which might serve as a 

 starting-point in this evolutionary study, but for the 

 purposes of the present article we have chosen the Ringed 

 Plover {^gialitis hiaticola), inasmuch as we are enabled, 

 thanks to the generosity of Mr. C. W. Colthrup, to 

 illustrate our remarks by some very striking photographs. 

 The " nests " here shown, it may be remarked, were 

 photographed by Mr. Colthrup both before and after the 

 removal of the eggs, and we have chosen the latter 

 pictures, since they best illustrate the theme now under 

 discussion — the evolution of the nest. 



The Ringed Plover, as most of my readers are well 

 aware, commonh^ makes no pretence at nest-building, the 

 eggs being deposited on the shingle of some unfrequented 

 beach. When, however, a more or less deliberate prepara- 

 tion for the eggs is made, a slight hollow suffices ; and 

 this hollow may either take the form of a natural depres- 



