OUR LAST WEEK IN FUERTEVENTURA 53 



In no case was there any hollowing out of the 

 ground to receive the eggs, merely a small space cleared 

 of the surrounding stones and flattened down so as to 

 be quite level. There were a certain number of places 

 slightly hollowed out, which the peasants told us were 

 made ready for eggs, but I do not think this was really 

 the case. 



One of the difficulties I had to contend with, as 

 mentioned in a previous chapter, was that the boys, 

 although invariably polite, would insist on breaking 

 every egg they came across. 



I am inclined to think I should have had more 

 success if I had been allowed to look for nests in my 

 own way. We had too many people out with us as 

 a rule, buj; as some of them insisted on accompanying 

 us out of politeness it was difficult to explain this to 

 them. I think the reason why the Coursers' eggs are 

 so exceedingly difficult to find is that the ground on 

 which the birds nest is open and comparatively flat. 

 The eggs of Ringed Plover, Lesser Terns, and others 

 are often hard to discover, but then there is generally 

 some limit to the ground to be searched over a strip 

 of beach, with perhaps some rising shore from w r hich 

 you can watch the birds. Here there may be one 

 Courser's nest in half a square mile of country, and if 

 you see the bird in front of you it is impossible to 

 tell whether it has run twenty yards or two hundred, 

 or whether it is simply standing by the eggs. The 

 Houbara's eggs are very much easier to find ; pro- 

 bably the ravens, of which there are a fair number, 

 take toll of them, but I should doubt if these birds 

 find many of the Coursers' eggs. 



