JAMES NEWTON BASKETT. 105 
their manner of spotting. On the other side of the Fowl- 
forms (in which we find the partridges), in fact on the aquatic 
side of both Fowls and Plovers, are the Grebes with an equal- 
ended, doubly-sharpened egg. So the center of evolution 
for peculiar egg-shapes must lie in this region, in some cases 
these are probably the result of an immediate need, and in 
others the effect of inheritance. There are other phases of 
the subject for which space is not at hand. To all views 
there are striking and perhaps fatal objections—especially 
to that of posture. The Woodpeckers and Owls are noto- 
riously upright—both even roosting that way; yet they lay 
the most globular of eggs. 
Of course there are many intermediate shapes, all of 
which may be characteristic of families or other groups, but 
in species these are especially helpful in diagnosis, being 
often more permanent than color or markings. 
Likewise the sizes, though quite variable, have a range 
for each bird, and the proportion between the long and short 
diameter—a factor of shape—is a characteristic feature, 
though it too is variable and has less room for play than 
other characters. One dimension is usually two-thirds or 
three-fourths of the other, except in globular eggs. 
In thinking over my paper I feel that I have been far 
from consecutive, perhaps often far from consistent, and I fear 
at times too digressive—certainly too diffusive and specula- 
tive. But the paper is designed as suggestive rather than 
argumentative, and is but the crude expression of unformu- 
lated ideas on the subject. To me it seems an intensely 
interesting branch of ornithology yet largely unexplored ; 
and while “by no means an exact science,” as Dr. Coues 
phrases it, its study must have its rewards. 
