112 THE STUDY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



covered when the parent bird goes down upon 

 them. 



When we come to those kinds of birds which place 

 their nests in hedgerows, bushes, trees, and other 

 high places, we do not find a great deal of varia- 

 tion in the shape of the eggs, but, of course, there 

 is diversity in size, colour, and markings. 



The eggs of most of these birds are somewhat 

 round, roundish, oval, or slightly pyriform; the 

 eggs of the Kestrel and Sparrow Hawk will serve 

 as examples of the first -named; those of the 

 Magpie, Jackdaw, and Jay may be cited in illus- 

 tration of the oval shape, and the last shape men- 

 tioned is well exemplified by the eggs of the Song 

 Thrush, Chaffinch, Spotted Flycatcher, and others. 



The size of the egg is largely influenced, of 

 course, by the size of the bird. Small birds, we 

 find, lay small eggs, but in considering this im- 

 portant phase of our subject the habits and 

 environment must not be overlooked. Thus the 

 Cuckoo is about the same size as the Sparrow 

 Hawk (and a somewhat similar-looking bird), but, 

 whereas the egg of the former is not larger than 

 that of a Sparrow, the egg of the Hawk is as large 

 as that of a Hen! There is just reason for this, as 

 the Cuckoo places her egg in the nest of a small 

 insectivorous bird, and, if her egg was as large as 

 that of the Sparrow Hawk, it would not only be 

 impossible for the female Cuckoo to deposit it in 



