Birds. 4285 



On the manner in which Parent Birds occasionally remove their 

 Eggs and Young. By the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A. 



In reading over the works of our principal ornithologists we can 

 scarcely help observing that there are certain "mysteries" in the sci- 

 ence, which for a long time seemed to baffle all the investigation, and 

 to elude the research of the most indefatigable. Very prominent 

 among these mysteries stood the subject of this paper ; " the manner 

 in which parent birds occasionally remove their eggs and young." It 

 was observed by many that birds did remove their eggs from one 

 place to another from a variety of causes ; and that they safely con- 

 veyed their young from a place of danger to one of security, when the 

 chick was physically incapable of performing the journey on its own 

 account : but how these removals were effected was a point which for 

 a long time remained involved in obscurity : time, however, and acci- 

 dent, and careful observation on the part of naturalists have solved 

 many of these mysteries, and I propose in the present paper to bring 

 together such observations on the subject as I have been able to col- 

 lect, and to discuss the whole question. 



First, with regard to removing eggs. The shape, size, smoothness 

 and brittleness of a bird's egg all seem to conspire to render it a very 

 difficult burden for its owner to carry : nay, not only to its owner, but 

 to a variety of other creatures which make it their prey, and which 

 have in consequence resorted to a great many ingenious expedients to 

 enable them to bear off the treasure which they have appropriated to 

 themselves, without the risk of loss from fracture. Thus, Mr. Wolley 

 tells us that a stoat will carry off a full-sized hen's egg between its 

 chin and breast, holding it in this manner quite securely, while the 

 paws are unencumbered and enabled to beat a retreat. Mr. Bury as- 

 sures us that the rat will grasp a hen's egg with all four paws, and 

 then turning on its back, suffer itself to be thus with its prize dragged 

 away by the tail by its fellows to a place of security, convenient for 

 dining: and however incredible this may seem, we all know that rats 

 frequently do remove hens' eggs in a most mysterious manner to 

 a considerable distance : and Mr. St. John adds that they even 

 remove turkeys' eggs without breaking, or leaving any marks on the 

 shell, and these often as large as their own bodies: Mr. Waterton 

 recounts how crows and magpies adopt the easier method of pouncing 

 on the pheasant's egg, and thrusting their beaks through the shell, 

 bear it away on the point : and Rustic us says, the gulls are for ever 

 XII. T 



