BIRDS' EGGS 113 



many kinds of nests which she chooses, but the 

 rightful owners of the nest would probably never 

 tolerate an egg larger than a golf ball being thrust 

 under their charge. 



Birds which lay their eggs upon the bare ground 

 are found to lay large eggs, as it is necessary that, 

 as soon as the young are hatched, they should be 

 able to run about and take care of themselves; 

 thus the chicks are well developed when they 

 emerge from their shelly home. Birds like the 

 Long - tailed Tit, Brown and Golden - crested 

 Wrens, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiif Chaff, Willow 

 Wren, and others, lay a number of eggs; hence we 

 find that they are very small, those of the Gold 

 Crest being not much larger than a pea. Much 

 more might be written of the interesting points 

 that arise regarding the shape and size of birds' 

 eggs, but it is with a view of encouraging the 

 young naturalist to study these questions for 

 himself, that this series of essays has been 

 written, and we must leave him to take up the 

 interesting story on his own account. 



Little space is left to treat of the colour and 

 markings of birds' eggs, but the subject is one 

 that is perhaps more generally known than the 

 great diversity that exists concerning their shape 

 and size. Whilst some eggs, such as those of the 

 Grebe, Gannet, Shag, Cormorant, and others that 

 need not be detailed, soon become stained and 



