32 BIRDS' NESTS. 



nor can they tell the difference between their 

 own eggs and those of another bird. If you 

 find a thrush's nest, for instance, with one egg 

 in it, and take that one away, supplying its 

 place by a smooth oval pebble or a marble, of 

 about the same size, the bird will go on laying 

 its proper number, as if all were right. And 

 if you put that egg into another thrush's nest, 

 the second bird will not lay one less than its 

 proper number. On the other hand, if you 

 find a nest with four or five eggs in it, and 

 take one away, the bird will go on sitting, as 

 if nothing had happened. 



" Now, as you are fond of collecting curious 

 things for your museum, you will like, I dare 

 say, to have a specimen of each kind of egg ; 

 and I will tell you how we shall be able to get 

 them in such a way that the birds shall know 

 nothing about it. When we find a nest with 

 four or five eggs in it, we will take only one ; 

 and if we find a nest with but one egg, we will 

 either wait till there are some more, or take 



