ROBBING BIRDS' NESTS. 75 



if possible!), a few tin boxes full of cotton, and a 

 note-book. The best collectors take the nest and a 

 full set of eggs, and in such case they need some sort 

 of basket in which to carry them. Less damage is 

 done by actual students, even if they take the nests 

 and all the eggs, than by mere robbers, who perhaps 

 content themselves with stealing " only one egg from 

 a nest ; ' because the latter are never content with 

 one good specimen, but continue pilfering accessible 

 nests until, in some instances, they accumulate hun- 

 dreds of useless robins' and bluebirds' eggs, and rob 

 the orchards of their melody. Eggs should be blown 

 through one neat hole in the side, and for this purpose 

 a set of egg-drills and a blowpipe should be procured. 

 The specimens should be rinsed with some poisonous 

 solution, and may then be arranged in cabinets in their 

 proper nests, or in compartments filled with sand, 

 cedar sawdust, or cotton. The lesson of their fragility 

 is one speedily learned by experience. It is frequently 

 vividly impressed upon the student while, during his 

 descent from some towering pine or oak, he carries his 

 treasures in that most available receptacle his mouth. 



It may not be out of place to caution the young 

 collector against a danger that attends the exploration 

 of deep holes in trees, such as wrens delight in. Un- 

 less the opening is evidently large enough to give 

 comfortable room for the arm, never allow your arm 

 to crowd into a hole beyond the elbow, or you may not 

 be able to withdraw it. 



With eggs, as with all other specimens, their value 

 depends largely upon the fulness and accuracy of the 

 data accompanying them. Date, location, and descrip- 

 tion of birds, both male and female, together with such 

 other facts as may be observed, should be carefully 

 noted at the time of collecting, and to this should 

 be added, of course, the name of the collector. 



