Insects hurried from flower to flower, from leaf to leaf; birds mated, built nests of warm feathers with their eggs encased in insulating mud-and-straw walls, to hatch enclosed and feed on stored nectars and resins until the next warm spell.

"You have to admit it's a perfect food, with all the major food groups except for hash browns," he said last Wednesday, strolling through Times Square after a breakfast of two McGriddles: egg, cheese and bacon encased in a "bun" of maple-flavored pancakes.

There are plenty of options for vegetarian tetelas (a pre-Hispanic tortilla wrap) and a divine 'spiritual egg' dish, which deep-fries a whole egg encased in hierba santa.

Previous contests have seen eggs encased in a watermelon, a carton of Jell-O and other containers destined to make dramatic landings.