Sept. 1 8, 1884] 



NA TURE 



493 



plover, oystercatcher, the various species of tern or sea- 

 swallow, and, generally speaking, all those birds which 

 habitually deposit their eggs upon the ground, with little 

 or no vestige of a nest. 



Only those who have sought for and found the eggs 

 of the peewit, stonecurlew, ringed plover, and oyster- 

 catcher can have any true idea of the remarkable ap- 

 proximation in the colour of the eggs to the ground 

 whereon they are laid, the two first-named resembling the 

 small clods and stones upon the fallows where they are 

 found, the two last-named counterfeiting the freckled, 

 water-worn pebbles of the beach. 



Many of the above-named species and others are 



already represented in the Museum series. The group 

 of the ring plover with the newly-hatched young hiding 

 between, and scarcely distinguishable from the pebbles, 

 is charming by its simplicity ; whilst the bit of Scotch 

 moor with the woodcock's nest will arrest the attention 

 of every sportsman whose personal experience of this 

 bird has been limited to a glimpse of it in the shooting 

 season. 



If we look around the collection for instances of species 

 which rely for the safety of their eggs on the protective 

 colour of the sitting hen, we shall find excellent illustra- 

 tions in the case of the pheasant and grouse, two of 

 the most life-like groups in the series, in the former 



Grebes and Nest 



case we seem to have a little bit carved out, as it were, 

 and carried away from an English wood in spring-time — 

 primroses, bluebells, and all ! 



It is probable that in this same class we must include 

 all the game birds, a large number of the passerine birds 

 (excepting those in which, as in the tits, wagtails, pipits, 

 larks, and some of the warblers, the sexes are alike in 

 plumage), the woodcocks, snipe, and ducks. But of these, 

 as will appear from our previous remarks, the passerine 

 birds would as well rely for safety on the concealed posi- 

 tion of the nest, and the woodcock and snipe, on the 

 protective colour of their eggs. 



In a notable essay entitled " A Theory of Birds' Nests," 

 published some years ago, Mr. A. R. Wallace, amongst 



other ingenious propositions, attempted to establish the 

 rule that, in all cases where the hen bird is brightly 

 coloured like the male (as in the kingfishers, woodpeckers, 

 tits, &c.) nidification takes place either in a hole or in a 

 roofed nest ; while in cases where the sexes differ in 

 plumage, and the hen bird is of a dull colour (as in the 

 pheasants, for example), the nest is open and the sitting 

 bird exposed to view. 



This theory, though at first sight plausible, is really un- 

 tenable ; for the exceptions which may be brought for- 

 ward in both classes are as numerous as the cases cited 

 in support of it. On reflection it is apparent that jays, 

 orioles, and pigeons (many tropical species of which are 

 brilliantly coloured), according to Mr. Wallace, ought to 



