452 The Bird 
At one time the sandpipers and plovers were classed as 
wading birds, and the gulls and terns in an Order placed 
at a remote distance in the scheme of classification from 
the former birds; no one suspecting that the two groups 
were in any way related. The striking resemblance 
which their eggs showed, however, suggested an affinity 
Fig. 357.—(a) Egg of common Tern compared with (b) egg of Black-necked Stilt 
which was later perfectly confirmed by anatomists and 
embryologists. 
The few thousands of years during which our race 
has risen to inheritance of the earth is all too short 
a time, geologically speaking, for us to flatter ourselves 
that any of the protective colours of animals were de- 
veloped on our account; but in many instances we, 
sharing the same five senses of animals, may put our- 
selves in their position. Imagining ourselves ege-hunting 
