In the beginning, I saw three eggs. My son saw three eggs as well.So when  
only two chicks emerged, and we saw no sign of the third egg, we were left  
wondering what had become of that third egg. I knew that the birds had no way of  
carrying an egg away, nor would she want to push it out, if somehow she could, 
 as the smell of a crushed (from the fall) egg would potentially attract  
predators.
 
The day the chicks left the nest, my 13 year-old son looked carefully, and  
discovered that the third egg had somehow been tucked into the lining of the  
nest. Upon examination, I can only surmise that the female,  perhaps realizing 
that the egg was not viable, pushed the egg into the  woven matter of the 
nest, so that it was not visible and it was also protected  from being trampled on 
by the hatchlings. In fact it appeared that she  wove some twigs and grasses 
over and around the egg and it became part of  the nest itself.
 
How ingenious. I had always wondered what became of a dud egg and now I  
know. And like it or not, you now do, too.
 
A photo of the egg after I had uncovered it from the nest lining is added  to 
the other photos at:
 
_http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa28/avesong/_ 
(http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa28/avesong/) 
 
Thanks for reading.
 
Jane Schlossberg
Saint George




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