# 18 Birds' Eggs

Birds' eggs come in a wide range of colors and markings. For example, the flicker's egg is pure white. In contrast, some ducks have solid black eggs. The eggs of the same species are almost always the same.

When held in the hand, the egg of a ground-nesting plover is easy to recognize. You feel that you could see it in any place. But not so fast. Put the plover's nested eggs in a field. Then try to find the eggs and nest. It's not so easy. Once a man was told to look along a straight plowed furrow. He was told that there were six nests with the eggs of plovers. He glued his eyes to the furrow and walked. When he reached the end of the furrow, he found one nest with eggs. He found this one because he stepped on it. It made him sad to have destroyed such a precious creation. But he did not step on the other five nests. He did not even see them. This story shows that birds know the art of blending.

Blending helps the species to survive. But it is not the only way to survival. Some eggs you can spot a mile away. Hearing this, most people will think that the blending theory does not work 100 percent. But wait! Something else happens. Bold-colored eggs have a foul taste. One cracked egg is enough. One small sip is too much. The snake will quickly glide away. The mongoose, too, will turn and trot off, spitting all the way. They learned the hard way. They will remember that bold color. The foul taste will be stored in their brain. They won't touch those bright eggs again. The rest of the eggs will hatch. The species will survive.

# 18 鳥蛋

鳥蛋的顏色和斑紋多種多樣。例如，撲動鴷的蛋是純白色的。相比之下，有些鴨子的蛋是純黑色的。同一物種的蛋幾乎總是相同的。

當拿在手中時，地面築巢的鴴的蛋很容易辨認。你覺得你在任何地方都能看到它。但別這麼快下定論。把鴴築好的蛋放在田野裡。然後試著找到那些蛋和巢。這可沒那麼容易。有一次，一個人被要求沿著一條筆直的犁溝尋找。他被告知那裡有六個帶有鴴蛋的巢。他緊盯著犁溝行走。當他走到犁溝盡頭時，他找到了一個有蛋的巢。他找到這個是因為他踩到了它。毀壞了如此珍貴的創造物讓他很難過。但他沒有踩到其他五個巢。他甚至沒有看到它們。這個故事顯示鳥類懂得偽裝的藝術。

偽裝有助於物種生存。但這不是生存的唯一方式。有些蛋你在很遠之外就能發現。聽到這個，大多數人會認為偽裝理論並非100%有效。但是等等！還有其他情況。顏色鮮豔的蛋有難聞的味道。一個破掉的蛋就夠了。一小口就太多了。蛇會迅速滑走。貓鼬也會轉身小跑離開，一路吐著口水。牠們以艱難的方式學到了教訓。牠們會記住那種鮮豔的顏色。難聞的味道會儲存在牠們的腦海中。牠們不會再碰那些鮮豔的蛋了。其餘的蛋將會孵化。物種將會延續。