BIRDS' NESTS AND EGGS 373 



affecting organic life, my end has been amply attained. For 

 no matter how unimportant an object or a series of facts may 

 seem, we must not despise them, or pass them by. Nature's 

 system is one mass of intricate complexity, becoming more 

 evident the more we study it ; and the only means of gaining 

 an insight as to how that system works is by dealing with 

 each phenomenon, not separately, but as a relative part which 

 assists in forming an almost perfect and harmonious whole. 

 Birds' nests and birds' eggs have a long, important, and in- 

 tensely interesting history, and the study of these beautiful 

 objects opens up a wide and fruitful field of research. 



THE END 



/. D. &* Co. 



Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh. 



