188 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



balls of china-ware, glittering in a remarkable 

 manner. Those of the nightingale, olive-brown 

 in colour, are beautifully smooth and polished in 

 texture. The most beautiful of small eggs, not 

 excepting the charming little ones of the titmice 

 and the wren, are without doubt those of the 

 tailor-birds of India: these may be seen at the 

 British Museum ; their surface is smooth, softly 

 polished, and their exquisitely coloured chocolate, 

 flushed with a transparent pink, renders them 

 most beautiful specimens of these productions. 

 The delicate texture of the eggs of the swallow, 

 of many of the finches, and of a number of the 

 commoner birds, may be so easily appreciated by 

 obtaining them, and are so difficult of description, 

 that we may be spared the attempt. 



Among the highest division of birds (Raptores), 

 none of the eggs which we have been able to ex- 

 amine seem to call for any special remark. They 

 are generally smooth, sometimes chalk-like, and 

 sometimes polished in their appearance ; those of 

 the owl often bear this character. Some of the 

 shells of the large birds are rough. 



We have seen eggs of some of the larger 

 birds, and large eggs of other birds, the surface of 



