DISSIMILARITY OF GUILLEMOTS' EGGS 53 

 when exposed on the rocks the wind has httle 

 power to move the eggs from their " seats." 



This special modification is, as I have said, 

 for an obvious purpose; but to account for 

 the dissimilarity of the eggs is not quite so 

 apparent, though, probably, it is due to 

 idiosyncratic excretion and distribution of the 

 pigment. The occasional occurrence of a plain 

 egg rather points to this conclusion. Still, 

 there is what, at first sight, appears a most 

 plausible explanation, and one which is 

 accepted even by naturalists. It is this : 

 Guillemots lay diversified eggs so that each 

 bird may recognize her own egg when return- 

 ing after an absence. 



From the human point of view nothing 

 could be more reasonable. But in these pages 

 we are not studying the Animal World from 

 our own outlook, but, if possible, from the 

 plane on which the creatures themselves 

 function. 



Personally, I can hardly imagine a guillemot 

 wading about amongst hundreds of others in 

 search of her own particular egg, and perhaps 

 thinking to herself, " I wonder if this is my 

 egg; the markings seem to tally ? " 



If the above notion is the true interpreta- 

 tion, then it follows that the guillemot is 

 capable of reflecting on abstract matters, 



