8 EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 
means of security attend their eggs and downy young, 
even the extreme simplicity of their nests aiding the escape 
of detection. Birds whose down has protected them 
during the early part of their history, become aware of 
the dangers which threaten a more conspicuous plumage, 
which is a marvellous thing, whether acquired by reasoning 
or instinct. This is proved by the action of birds of the 
same order. The Golden Plover, with plumage in harmony 
with the surroundings of her nest (her feathers being still 
further subdued in colour during the breeding season), sits 
much closer than the Green Plover, although a shyer bird, 
with eggs possessing the same protective qualities. The 
Green Plover knows her plumage is much more conspicuous 
than her eggs, and quietly slips away before danger ap- 
proaches half so near as the golden plover will allow it. 
I am surprised to find so great an authority as Darwin 
assert that “the species which represent each other in 
distinct countries will almost always have been exposed to 
different conditions, but we can hardly attribute to this 
action the modification of the plumage in the males alone, 
seeing that the females and the young, though similarly 
exposed, have not been affected.” 
Possibly such may be the case where no protective 
modification is necessary in the female or young; but what 
about the fact that female Red Grouse differ much in the 
colour of their plumage, according to the conditions under 
which they live, though the males are left totally unaffected ? 
Instance the female Grouse, known as the ‘ Moss-hen,” 
always found on the highest and most exposed situations 
where there is little cover, consequently great need of har- 
monising colours: a strong point, I venture to assert, in 
favour of protective utility. 
