The California Murre 



arabesques which it would vex Mohammed's self to read. A third carries 

 a pattern in lilac which must have cooled a long age in the tomb of some 

 Egyptian princess. 



It would appear highly probable that this variety is introduced by 

 nature to facilitate recognition on the part of the birds, whose property 

 might otherwise become hopelessly confused or lost. Certainly no two 

 adjacent eggs are exactly alike, and the differences are usually so striking 

 that a birdless ledge looks like an oological bouquet. These differences, 

 moreover, are probably constant as between given birds. At least we 

 found by experiment in 1907 that if a handsomely marked egg were re- 

 moved, another of the same type might be expected in its place from one 

 to three weeks later. 



The peculiar shape of the egg, big at one end and little at the other, 

 insures that the egg when disturbed shall roll in a small circle. In fact, 



Taken on the S. E. Farallon 



Photo by the A ulhor 



A REFUGE IN A TROUBLED SEA 



1498 



