in the symmetry of their form, as well as beautifully rich and 
harmonious in their colouring. In form, they range in every 
curve of the line of beauty, from the round and almost 
spherical egg of many owls to the acutely pointed oval of 
the blackbird and most of the small buds. On this diversity 
of form in the eggs some authorities, thinking they had dis- 
covered the order of nature, have attempted to form a system of 
classification ; but a very brief examination dissolves this dream, 
