brak666

I actually think I have it mostly worked out. First I'll tell you what was problematic for me and then I'll come up with the explanation that allows me to continue reading. In Dragonquest F'nor finds the Fire Lizard eggs hatching on the beach. There are no other Fire Lizards in attendance. The Fire Lizards are born hungry, but even though they hatch right next to the sea which is their main source of food, they seem to have no instinct to guide them and eventually turn on each other. Also they are succeptable to nearby predators. The dragonriders go hunting for more eggs and find other nests in the same situation, completely unguarded. From this reading one assumes Fire Lizards are akin to sea turtles, burying their eggs in the warm sand to incubate, but not actually doing any parenting. Cut to Dragonsong. The clutch Menolly finds is zealously guarded by its mother and several bronzes. When the eggs finally hatch a large group of Fire Lizards is in attendance. These hatchlings are apparently smarter than the ones F'nor and the other dragonriders found because they recognize the sea as a source of food and make for it the moment their wings are dry enough for them to fly. The problem of course, is that they hatch while thread is falling. If not for Menolly they probably all would've died. But then you have Dragonsdawn which is really what creates the problem for me. The clutch that Sorka and Sean find is also guarded by its mother. Also when the time comes to hatch many Fire Lizards of all colors are in attendance. The problem here is that these Fire Lizards not only provide food for the hatchlings, they set up a rather intricate pathway to guide them to it, and they protect them from predators. At least until they have their first meal and start flying. This really doesn't seem like a disadvantageous behavior that would've been bred out in the 2,000 or so years between Dragonsdawn and Dragonsong.

Now here's where I try to work it out. In Dragonsdawn Sean and Sorka mention that greens lack a strong maternal instinct and frequently abandon their eggs before they hatch. So one could presume that the eggs F'nor and the other dragonriders found at Southern were from greens. Also the second clutch Menolly finds in Dragonsong. This does however require that one let go of the notion that greens can't lay gold eggs. That's the easy part though. It's harder to ignore the behavior differences. It's also established in Dragonsdawn that Fire Lizards are attracted to births. So surely some should've been in attendance at the beaches in Southern. But I suppose if I have to, I can assume that there simply weren't any around at the time. I know Dragonsdawn was written after the other two, but that's not really an excuse. Why introduce a discontinuity? And there's still the food issue. In Dragonsong the Fire Lizards in the cave provide nothing but verbal encouragement to the hatchlings. Now I suppose you could say they were unable to because of thread falling, but we also know that Fire Lizards can chew firestone and fight thread. Again, a discontinuity that I can't really explain is raised in Dragonsdawn. The Fire Lizards are quite willing to protect their human friends during fall, not only that, they attempt to protect the livestock from thread as well. So why wouldn't they protect their own young? Or at least provide cover for others to go fishing to take food back to the cave?

So I'm willing to except that the clutches found in Dragonquest were abandoned by greens. The rest is a bit difficult to reconcile.