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Re: egg laying rates

Greg Paul wrote: 

> I do not know of any bird that leaves
>its eggs exposed for more than a few minutes.
>
>GSPaul

Sorry, not true. Birds (e.g. ostriches) control incubation by not 
brooding until all the eggs are layed (>23 days). That is to insure 
that eggs hatch within a relatively short time (hours) of each other. 
E.g., see Bertram, B., 1992. The ostrich communal nesting system. 
Princeton U. Press 

Kenneth Carpenter
Dept. of Earth Sciences
Denver Museum of Natural History
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
crpntr@ix.netcom.com