32 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



stones or smooth pieces of shell less in size than a 

 threepenny-bit. Occasionally a tuft of sand sedge 

 or a large stone affords a little protection. Chance- 

 time a strong northerly wind has driven the 

 sand-drift so thickly as to completely cover arid 

 smooth over the shingle, nests, eggs, and all. Mr. 

 Dye alleges that towards the end of incubation the 

 eggs assume almost a vertical position ; he believes 

 it to be due to the movements of the young birds 

 inside the shell. Sir Thomas Browne l remarks :' 

 " They lay their egges in the sand and shingle about 

 June, and as the eryngo diggers tell mee, not sett 

 them flat butt upright like egges in salt." 



In a footnote Mr. Southwell refers to the com- 

 plement of four eggs, which are arranged with their 

 pointed ends to the centre. " The concavity of the 

 nest, therefore, as well as the disproportionate size of 

 the larger end, gives the eggs somewhat the appear- 

 ance of being placed in the position referred to, but 

 the small end of the egg is always visible." The 

 eggs, as well as the stones around them, retain their 

 heat in a remarkable degree, so that the old birds 

 remain feeding a longer time than those who have 



1 Natural History of Norfolk, by Sir Thomas Browne. Edited by 

 Mr. T. Southwell. 



