130 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



OOLOGICAL ECCENTRICITIES. 

 By H. S. Davenport. 



There can be few who have brought an intelligent per- 

 ception to bear on the nesting economy of some of our more 

 familiar birds, who have failed to be struck by a certain irregu- 

 larity which, to my thinking, is more constant than otherwise, 

 and which is outwardly demonstrated by the fact of one egg 

 in a clutch differing appreciably in character from the remainder. 

 Those who have served a lengthy apprenticeship at birds- 

 nesting will have met with many a stirring experience, for 

 not a little of the charm that pertains to this hobby consists 

 in never knowing what aberrant type of egg — aberrant in size, 

 shape, or markings, as the case may be — may turn up before 

 a day's ramble through meadow or woodland, or by hedgerow 

 or stream, comes to an end. For all that I am aware of to 

 the contrary, no such delightful uncertainty attaches to the 

 collecting of moths, butterflies, beetles, and such like ; this, 

 however, by the way. Nevertheless, it was not my intention 

 to make any observations concerning abnormal types or 

 varieties of eggs such as are to be periodically met with, to 

 wit, Song Thrushes' with red spots, Blackbirds' with a ground 

 of pale blue and entirely unspotted, Jays' of a lovely pink or 

 salmon-coloured hue, Redbreasts' of a pure unspotted white, 

 Linnets' unspotted, Chaffinches', Spotted Flycatchers', and 

 Lesser Redpolls' of a beautiful and unruffled blue ground, 

 Kestrels' white, Blackcaps' pink, Lesser Whitethroats' of a 

 pale blue ground and unspotted, Carrion Crows' spotted and 

 streaked with red, and so on, for I am inclined to regard such 

 variations, in the majority of instances quoted, as more or less 

 accidental. On the other hand, however, be the cause what 

 it may, the rule — if such a term is applicable — as I understand 

 it, holds good far too often in the matter of the odd egg in a 

 clutch, whether it be in the size, shape, or colouring that the 

 variability exists, to justify the assumption that its presence 

 in a nest is attributable to chance. 



These and the following observations have been prompted 

 by a perusal of some remarks by the late Mr. Henry Seebohm, 



