452 The Bird 



At one time the sandpipers and plovers were classed as 

 wading birds, and the gulls and terns in an Order placed 

 at a remote distance in the scheme of classification from 

 the former birds; no one suspecting that the two groups 

 were in any way related. The striking resemblance 

 which their eggs showed, however, suggested an affinity 



Fig. 357. — (a) Egg of common Tern compared with (b) egg of Black-necked Stilt 



which was later perfectly confirmed by anatomists and 

 embryologists. 



The few thousands of years during which our race 

 has risen to inheritance of the earth is all too short 

 a time, geologically speaking, for us to flatter ourselves 

 that any of the protective colours of animals were de- 

 veloped on our account; but in many instances we, 

 sharing the same five senses of animals, may put our- 

 selves in their position. Imagining ourselves egg-hunting 



