I 



THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 189 



THE COLOURATION OF BIRDS' EGGS. 

 By H. W. Hunt. 



/Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 1 6th January^ 



iS88.; 



In a paper previously read before this society I suggested that 

 the colouration of eggs would be found to bear some relation to 

 thit of the birds laying them, and stated two rules which, I 

 believed, would be found of general application. The one — 

 that highly-coloured birds do not lay correspondingly highly- 

 ■coloured eggs, whilst birds of sombre plumage very often lay 

 most beautiful eggs ; the other — that birds which build in 

 'hollows of trees, or burrow in the ground, or build nests of such 

 a shape as to permit the entrance of little light, and nocturnal 

 birds, lay white eggs. I will now proceed to examine the 

 colouration of the eggs of the various families and tribes in 

 connection with the above rules, and also in order to see 

 whether other rules may not be found which the colouring of the 

 •eggs of some families will follow. Before proceeding with such 

 examination, I will attempt to show that the above two rules 

 ■may be merged, or, rather, that the former may be merged 

 in the latter, for it will, I think, be found that it is, as a 

 rule, those birds which are conspicuously coloured that 

 build in the manner and localities I have mentioned. 

 That is, conspicuously-coloured birds build concealed nests, 

 or lay their eggs in concealed situations. 



In support of this proposition, I may refer to Darwin's argu- 

 ment on the proposition laid down by Mr, Wallace that, when 

 both sexes are coloured in a strikingly conspicuous manner, the 

 nest is of such a nature as to conceal the sitting bird ; 

 but when there is a marked contrast of colour between 

 the sexes — the male being gay, and the female dull- 

 coloured — the nest is open, and exposes the sitting bird 

 to view. He further goes on to quote M. Audubon to the 

 effect that with many birds which build open nests the males sit 

 •on the eggs and aid in feeding the young as well as the females, 

 and to state that in England there is no close and general relation 

 between the colours of the female and the nature of the nest 

 constructed by her. But, after a close examination of the birds 

 of the v^orld, he comes to the conclusion summed up in these 

 words: — "Notwithstanding the foregoing objections, I cannot 

 doubt, after reading Mr. Wallace's excellent essay, that, looking 

 to the birds of the world, a large majority of the species in which 

 the females are conspicuously coloured (and in this case the 

 males, with rare exceptions, are equally conspicuous), build 

 ■concealed nests for the sake of protection." In opposition to 



