44 TEE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



a very strong likeness to their parents, except that 

 the chestnut cap which marks the old birds is not so 

 bright in the young ; although in many warblers 

 ■the young birds are actually brighter than their 

 parents while keeping the same pattern. 



The eggs are, according to Mr. Hume, from whom 

 I take my details about the nests, most remarkably 

 variable, for although always spotted with reddish 

 brown, they may have either a white or a bluish- 

 green ground colour. But as these two types do not 

 occur in the same nest, it is very probable that the 

 ■disposition to produce eggs of one or other colour "runs 

 in the family " in certain strains of Tailor-birds, just 

 as a common duck has been known to secure her 

 destruction and that of her descendants (who took 

 after her) by laying eggs which always had yolks of the 

 very unappetising appearance of melted glue ! There 

 are only three or four in the clutch, so that Durzee 

 has not to work so hard for the family as Jenny Wren, 

 who is wont to resemble the traditional old lady who 

 lived in a shoe in the exuberance of her family. 

 Presumably the reason for the difference in two so 

 similar birds is that the hanging cradle won't accom- 

 modate safely more than a very limited number of 

 infants, while the wren's nest in a hedge can be packed 

 with impunity. Besides, the bitter struggle for 

 existence in a cold climate requires a considerable 



