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. 



