I }h At. i. in on Sexual Selection and the Nesting oj Birds. [April 



slight and inconspicuous nest. and. as a rule in dense cover. lie 

 also adds, very pertinently, respecting the Herons, Cormorants. 

 Pelicans, and Storks, that in these cases it is quite evident "that 

 the birds by there own prowess alone shield their eggs from dan- 

 ger; besides, most of these birds are gregarious, and are well 

 able to heat off any encun that is likely to approach, if not singly, 

 1>\ uniting for the purpose, so that it is of no special advantage 

 tor them to conceal their eggs." 



In respect to spotted eggs, laid in covered nests, in which the 

 color is as much -protective' in character as in the case of their 

 allies which lay in open nests, they usually belong, it may he 

 Stated, to groups which as a rule breed in open nests, as the 

 Magpie, tor example, among the Corvidae. 



As a rule, spotted eggs are laid in open nests, and are in most 

 cases 'protective' in coloration, as is the case generally with 

 ground-nesting birds, in which the tints of the eggs often striking- 

 ly harmonize with their surroundings. In the case of tree-nesting 

 species, the color of the eggs is less 'protective' ; but the position 

 of the nest is in a measure an element of safety, at least in respect 

 to non-SCansorial ememies, like many of the smaller mammals, 

 which prey more or less upon the eggs or nestlings of ground- 

 nesting birds. 



It is therefore e\ ident that the color of the eggs has an intimate 

 relation to the manner of nesting, white eggs as a rule being 

 laid in covered nests or concealed nesting-sites. Hut a distinc- 

 tion should be made in respect to different kinds of covered nests. 

 in reference to the matter of security against enemies. The bulky 

 nests of the Svnallaxime. composed of coarse, interlocked, often 

 thorny Sticks and twigs, or the globular mud nests, the walls 

 ^i~ which become of a brick-like hardness, of the species of 

 Fiiriiarius, may well be classed, on the ground of protection 

 against enemies, with nests built in excavations in trees or in the 

 earth, while the loosely constructed domed nest can scarcch 

 serve otherwise than for concealment of the eggs, or young, or 

 the sitting bird. The large si/e of such nests, however, must 

 sometimes render them a too conspicuous object to give any real 

 advantage, but in other cases, ami generally when placed on the 

 ground, the nest itself is artfully concealed. In regard to nesting 

 in holes, in trees or the earth, the object gained is obviously pro- 

 tection in the broader sense rather than concealment of the female 



