THE BIRDS OF BEMPTON CLIFFS. 



25 



generally involves the destruction of the egg. The colour- 

 ing- of these birds' eggs also opens up man)' interesting 

 problems. 



The numberless varieties in colour shown can hardly be 

 due to the attempted predominence of one colour which is 

 more protective than another, because the predominant 

 colour, green and black, makes the eggs most conspicuous. 

 Is it, as Dixon in the introduction to the 2nd vol. of 



After the Ascent. 



Seebohme's British Birds suggests, that the absence of foes 

 gives the Guillemot's egg a freer hand to branch out into 

 varieties than those of other birds? The foes present, viz., 

 Jackdaw, Gull, and man are very deadly in their way, but in 

 spite of them the birds and eggs increase. Of the Jackdaw 

 and Gull, it is impossible to say whether they prefer any 

 special type of egg. As far as observation goes they do not. 

 Of man it is asserted that by taking all the rarely-marked 

 eggs he can get, he has diminished the numbers of such 



D 



