GEMS IN PLAIN CASKETS 143 



the Cassowaries, which are just like big unripe 

 plums, and are of course laid on the ground. And 

 as a matter of fact, eggs of any sort are practically 

 never of a pure colour, either in ground or markings ; 

 blue-greens, green-blues, brown-reds, and yellow- 

 buffs are the usual tints, but no egg is azure-blue, 

 scarlet-red, or gamboge-yellow, or even magenta 

 or violet. 



The most richly coloured eggs are those of the 

 Tinamous (Tinamida), which have a glaze like 

 china and are self-coloured, exhibiting such tints 

 as sea-green and plum-purple, though they soon 

 fade when blown. The Tinamous themselves are 

 one of the plainest-coloured families of birds in 

 existence, not one species having any bright or 

 conspicuous marking, and only a few even such 

 little decorations as a red bill or yellow legs ; and it 

 will be noticed that taking the class of birds as a 

 whole, a beautiful bird never lays a beautiful egg, 

 and vice versa. " The music of the moon sleeps 

 in the plain eggs of the nightingale," says the poet, 

 and the glories of the Peacock's rainbow train and 

 the Golden Pheasant's glowing crest and blood-red 

 breast are packed into eggs of a simple cream- 

 colour, while in the same family the sombre Grouse 

 and Quail lay quite richly mottled eggs. 



One of the most curious coincidences among 

 birds is to be found in the markings of the eggs 

 of many birds of prey, which are just like dried 

 blood, foreshadowing the little murderers which 

 will break through their shells ; a believer in ma- 



