D. Dewar maintains that it is possible to divide birds’ eggs that are coloured, as opposed to those that are white, into two classes—those which are protectively coloured and those which are not. The former class includes all those which are laid in shingle or on the bare ground, as, for example, the eggs of the ring-plover and the lap-wing.[8] He maintains that the variously coloured and speckled eggs that are laid in cup-shaped nests are not protectively coloured at all; he declares that they are usually very conspicuous when in the nest, and, moreover, it would be futile for them to be cryptically coloured, for a bird or lizard that habitually sucks eggs will examine carefully the interior of each nest it discovers. Needless to say, this view does not appeal to the so-called Neo-Darwinians. Wallace writes, on page 215 of _Darwinism_: “The beautiful blue or greenish eggs of the hedge-sparrow, the song-thrush, the blackbird, and the lesser redpole seem at first sight especially calculated to attract attention, but it is very doubtful whether they are really so conspicuous when seen at a little distance among their usual surroundings. For the nests of these birds are either in evergreen, or holly, or ivy, or surrounded by the delicate green tints of early spring vegetation, and may thus harmonise very well with the colours around them. The great majority of the eggs of our smaller birds are so spotted or streaked with brown or black on variously tinted grounds that, when lying in the shadow of the nest and surrounded by the many colours and tints of bark and moss, of purple buds and tender green or yellow foliage, with all the complex glittering lights and mottled shades produced among these by the spring sunshine and sparkling rain-drops, they must have quite a different aspect from that which they possess when we observe them torn from their natural surroundings.” The obvious comment on this is that it is very fine and poetic English, but it is not science. It is futile to deny what should be obvious to every field naturalist, namely, that the majority of eggs laid in open nests are most conspicuous. D. Dewar thus summarises the main facts which show that eggs in nests (as opposed to those laid on the bare ground) are not protectively coloured:— “1. Allied species of birds, even though their nesting habits are very different, as a rule lay similarly coloured eggs. “2. Eggs laid in domed nests certainly do not need protective colouring, yet many of these are coloured. “3. The same is true of many eggs laid in holes in trees or in buildings. “4. The protective resemblances of eggs which are laid in the open are apparent to everyone, which certainly is not true of those deposited in nests. “5. Many birds lay eggs which exhibit very great variations. “6. Some birds lay eggs of different types, and these sometimes differ from one another so greatly that it is difficult to believe that they could have been laid by the same species.”[9]