. The bird, its form and function . -have given to it its name: ovaL In the eggs of certainsea-birds which breed on the narrow ledges of perpendicularcliffs this oval shape is carried to an extreme, and ap-parently for an excellent reason, mechanical, but of ines-timable value to the birds. Eggs laid in such positions. Fig. 343. — Egg of .Mune. are of course especially exposed to danger from the windor from some sudden movement of the birds, which gener-ally nest very close together. Were it not that the eggs,on account of their peculiar shape, describe an arc ofvery small diameter when they r
. The bird, its form and function . -have given to it its name: ovaL In the eggs of certainsea-birds which breed on the narrow ledges of perpendicularcliffs this oval shape is carried to an extreme, and ap-parently for an excellent reason, mechanical, but of ines-timable value to the birds. Eggs laid in such positions. Fig. 343. — Egg of .Mune. are of course especially exposed to danger from the windor from some sudden movement of the birds, which gener-ally nest very close together. Were it not that the eggs,on account of their peculiar shape, describe an arc ofvery small diameter when they roll, doubtless a far greaternumber would roll off and be dashed down uj)on therocks below. Among the plovers, sandpipers, and phal-aropes we again find a peculiarh^ pronounced pyriform 43 The Bird shape of egg, serving in these instances a very apparentand useful end. These birds ahnost invariably lay foureggs, which are of large size in comparison with the birds,and their shape allows them to be fitted closely together,each forming one of the four segments, their points allbut meeting in the centre. Thus the little body of the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbeebewil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1906
