8 BRITISH BIRDS EGGS. 



probably, by any which can be produced from foreign 

 lands. 



A nest however is never so beautiful as when seen in 

 its original and natural position; the Bobin's imbedded in 

 the deep-green overhanging moss of some sheltered bank, 

 the Chaffinch's or Goldfinch's silvered over and almost 

 sparkling with fragments of lichen, which assimilate it in 

 appearance to the grey branches of the aged tree in which 

 it may be lodged; even the frail and simple nest of the 

 White -throat, built in the straggling thicket, and shaded 

 and hidden by the plants which form its leafy bower, is a 

 pretty object: and all deserve more gentle treatment than 

 they sometimes meet with at the hands of inconsiderate 

 youth. 



In referring to the eggs of birds we cannot claim for 

 them, in virtue of their forms and colours, so high a posi- 

 tion in the scale of beauty as would be awarded to the 

 flowers of the earth, or even to many of the shells of the 

 sea ; yet they are not devoid of external beauty, being 

 exceedingly varied and harmonious in their colours ; while 

 the anatomy of the egg has extensively engaged the atten- 

 tion of philosophical naturalists. All birds are oviparous, 

 that is, they produce eggs which are hatched by incubation, 



