322 Wonders of the Bird World 



these birds is the deposition of the eggs in regular layers 

 with leaves between. This custom I had long heard of 

 before an opportunity offered for personal observation. In 

 the first nest I examined, the eggs were in two distinct 

 layers, separated by a deep bed of dry leaves ; the bottom 

 layer consisted of four eggs, and these, strange to say, 

 were all infertile. I believe this singular habit is practised 

 in all cases where a large number of birds resort to the 

 same nest. The eggs are of a deep bluish-green, but when 

 freshly laid are covered with a white chalky coat, which 

 soon becomes much scratched and erased on all. Now 

 what seems very singular is, that comparatively little of this 

 chalky covering gets rubbed off the sides, where from the 

 turning over of the eggs in the nest we should expect to 

 see the greatest extent of denudation, whereas one or both 

 ends are nearly wholly denuded. That this circumstance is 

 not merely accidental, I feel sure, as in a large series of 

 clutches that I have examined more than two-thirds of the 

 number of eggs show this peculiarity. So cleanly and 

 evenly is it done, and to such an extent, that I feel confi- 

 dent it is the work of the birds themselves, their beaks 

 alone being able to accomplish it. At the same time it is 

 easy to see that the marks and scratches at the sides are the 

 work of friction with the twigs and leaves of the nest. 

 I have found eggs and young in February, and throughout 

 the succeeding months to August, two or three broods pro- 

 bably being reared. I have also seen young, fully fledged, 

 but unable to fly, hopping about the branches of the nest- 

 ing tree, and on another occasion, some, more advanced, 

 searching for insects in the grass at the roots of a large 

 guango tree in company with many old birds." 



