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interesting information might be gained towards the classifi- 

 cation of birds, by paying some attention to their eggs ; and 

 it is very gratifying to find, in thus regarding them, that, with 

 the exception of a few instances, were we to take the eggs of 

 our British birds as our only guide, we should arrive at the 

 best and most approved arrangement of the different genera. 

 All those new genera which have been lately adopted, are 

 clearly indicated in the difference of their eggs, and in none 

 more than in those of the Snow Bunting and the Bearded 

 Titmouse ; the former of which was associated with the genus 

 Emberiza, the latter with that of Parus ; the very great simi- 

 larity which the eggs of each of these genera (Emberiza and 

 Parus) bear to each other, at once pointing out the intruders. 

 T would not, however, have any one place too implicit reliance 

 on their eggs, for the arrangement of the birds. There are 

 puzzling instances in which, by so doing, we should be led 

 into error, and be tempted to place apart from each other the 

 eggs of the Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, the Common and 

 Tythis Redstarts, and to separate those of the Common and 

 Misletoe Thrush from the rest of the genus, the Swallow 

 from the Martin and the Swift, the Little Bittern from the 

 more common species, and the Woodcock from the Snipe ; 

 and placing too much reliance upon those minute differences 

 which serve so beautifully to connect and represent neigh- 

 bouring genera, we should be led into a similar mistake with 

 regard to the eggs of the Pied Wagtail, the Grasshopper 

 Warbler, the Wood Wren, and the Wheatear. 



The generic characters of eggs are in some cases as dis- 

 tinctly marked in contour and in colour as are the birds 



