CHAPTER XII 



METHODS OP WORK 



It will have become apparent to the reader who has 

 followed these pages so far that Newton was an earnest 

 seeker after the truth in all things, and, so far as it was 

 humanly possible, he was never satisfied with anything 

 less than the completest accuracy. From quite early 

 days he was constantly receiving eggs from people, 

 who believed, in their enthusiasm, that they had 

 discovered some rarity, and wished for Newton's con- 

 firmation. 



For the last thirteen days I have been wrapped in 

 contemplation (and a great-coat) with respect to the egg 

 you have entrusted to my care. " Who steals my purse," 

 etc. {vide Shakespeare). Morris cracked the shell of it, 

 what if I totally demolish its reputation and good name ? 

 I am more than ever disposed to agree with the anony- 

 mous reviewer in the Ibis. The office of Devil's Advo- 

 cate is a particularly ungracious one. I know perfectly 

 well that it is the habit of collectors to put their implicit 

 confidence in evidence on which they would refuse to 

 hang the veriest cur which ever merited the decoration 

 of the tin pot. 



After a really serious and steady course of observa- 

 tion I have deliberately come to the conclusion that in 

 your egg marked Nucifraga caryocatactes I can detect no 

 character which may not be found in a Magpie's. At 

 the same time I am fain to confess, as I said in the hasty 

 scrawl when I last wrote, that I have not got a Magpie's 

 egg with which to match your pattern. In size and 



