APPEARANCES DECEPTIVE. 11 



birds of similar habits breed together. The young 

 collector is especially warned not to be misled by 

 the mere fact of seeing certain birds around a nest. 

 Many of the crow and jay kind are great , eaters 

 of eggs, and mistakes have originated from these 

 birds being seen near nests of which, certainly they 

 were not the owners. Others, such as the titmice, 

 though not plunderers, obtain their food by inces- 

 santly seeking it even in the very localities where 

 many species build. It often happens, also, that two 

 different birds have their homes situated very close 

 to one another; and, if allied species, the collector 

 may easily be deceived. 



Professor Alfred Newton relates an instance where 

 a dunlin (Tringa aljpina) and a purple sandpiper 

 ( Tringa maritima) had their nests only a few feet 

 apart. At first a pair of the latter only were seen, 

 which by their actions betrayed their uneasiness. A 

 short search discovered a nest with four eggs. The 

 observer was one of the best practical oologists then 

 living, and his eye at once saw that it was not the 

 nest which he wanted; but a less experienced man 

 would doubtless have immediately concluded that he 

 had found the eggs of the rarer species. 



"Indeed it may, generally speaking, be said of 

 most birds, that, whenever they have nests of their 

 own, they are also acquainted with those of their 



