INTRODUCTION. I/ 



I hope that my readers may be able, from personal 

 observation, not only to avouch the strict truth of these 

 remarks, but also to add to the interesting list which 

 may be found in the books I have named. 



The well-known fact that the plumage of the female 

 is nearly always of a duller hue than that of the male, is 

 doubtless connected with their mode of nesting, and 

 thus the sitting bird is protected by the harmony 

 between its own plumage and the colour of the surround- 

 ings of the nest. 



The male Stonechat is one of our prettiest birds ; his 

 less attractive spouse is, for that very reason, when on 

 the nest, more safe than he could ever be. Strangely 

 enough, in the case of a very few birds, such as the 

 Dotterel and the Phalaropes, where the female is more 

 showy than the male, the latter performs the duty of 

 incubation. All these birds build open nests ; but birds 

 in which both sexes are highly coloured rear their young 

 in holes or covered nests ; of these, the Woodpecker and 

 the Kingfisher are conspicuous instances. 



Domed nests are built not merely for concealment, 

 but for other purposes ; that of the Dipper, for example, 

 in order that her eggs and young may be protected from 

 the spray which flies so freely around. 



Mr. Dixon is also of opinion that when the females 

 are duller in colour than the male, and yet the nest is 

 covered, the reason may be found in the fact that, as in 

 the case of the Redstart, the bright-plumaged male 

 assists in no small degree in the task of incubation. 



Very remarkable, too, is the way in which the young 

 ones of brilliant-coloured parents are preserved from 

 danger by their own sombre plumage. Upon the least 



C 



