Current theory is that one of the neighbouring chickens escaped from her run long enough to lay in the bushes, egg subsequently found by a fox who carried it off for burial for safe keeping in our garden.
Not convinced by the children's story about one rat clutching a chicken's egg to its stomach, while another pulled it along, on its back, by its tail. And I don't think a rat could carry such an egg in its mouth.
I also associated to the anecdote in 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' about a huge stink from an ostrich's egg which they had opened up. Had to move camp to get away from it. Thinking to test google, I got a pdf of the book in about twenty seconds, and found the egg reference about forty seconds after that: 'A man ran up to us with two great ivory eggs. We settled to breakfast on this bounty of the Bisaita, and looked for fuel; but in twenty minutes found only a wisp of grass. The barren desert was defeating us. The baggage train passed, and my eye fell on the loads of blasting gelatine. We broached a packet, shredding it carefully into a fire beneath the egg propped on stones, till the cookery was pronounced complete. Nasir and Nesib, really interested, dismounted to scoff at us. Auda drew his silver-hilted dagger and chipped the top of the first egg. A stink like a pestilence went across our party'. I wonder now how a large animal like an ostrich manages to find enough to eat in the Arabian wastes. Are lizards and snakes important parts of their diets?
Perhaps we ought to get in touch with the Countryfile people in town or with the Twiggiwinks hospital up the road in Leatherhead for a more expert view.
PS: colours in the picture quite different according to whether the sun was in or out. This is in, with bowl and egg quite a deep colour. Out, bowl and egg rather paler and with the wall behind a distinctly blue colour. Its actual colour being white. Tricky business.
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