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run across, and hardly be aware of a nest at all. No egg 

 is visible, and the hollow of the nest scarcely to be in 

 ferred. The dabchick, which is perhaps the most con 

 scientious and subtle concealer of its eggs, seldom does 

 the job so well as this partridge. 



The method of concealment is perhaps not more effec 

 tive than protective coloration. The partridges* eggs 

 are, of course, to some extent saved by colour, though 

 the uniformity of tint is not so deceptive as the spotted 

 surface of the plovers or the terns*. But this device alone 

 would not serve the partridge. However artistically 

 compounded to suit the surroundings, the mere number 

 of the eggs would bewray their presence. To conceal by 

 colour fourteen or sixteen, or eighteen eggs, would be 

 beyond the scope of any art. How invincibly successful 

 the mere coloration may be in a smaller clutch, was tested 

 the other day on a tilth. A plover s nest at a few yards 

 distance was pointed out to a very observant child. He 

 entirely failed to see the eggs and nest, even with the aid 

 of a pointer and the most precise directions. With such 

 nests you must know exactly what you expect to see 

 before you can see it. The eyes without the experience 

 are blind. 



