COLLECTING BIRDS' EGGS AND NESTS. 97 



need to be rinsed out with carbolic acid and water, or some 

 equally good disinfectant. 



It is, of course, to be understood that eggs must be clean on 

 the outside before they are fit for the cabinet. Usually soap 

 and warm water is sufficient to remove dirt and stains, but oc- 

 casionally a particularly hard case calls for the addition of a 

 little washing soda in the water. The last washing, however, 

 should always be in clear water. 



Inasmuch as a label cannot be attached to an egg, the data 

 necessary to give the egg a respectable position in the oological 

 world must be written on the under side of the egg itself, either in 

 lead pencil or India ink, which is capable of being erased at will. 



The following are the data that should be recorded on every 

 egg collected and kept : 



1. Name of species, or number in A. O. U. check list, if North 

 American. 



2. Collector's number, which belongs to every egg of a given 

 set, and refers to his catalogue and field notes. 



3. Number of eggs in the set, or " clutch." 



4. Date in full. 



In packing eggs for shipment, a great many small boxes of 

 wood or tin are absolutely essential, and in these the eggs must 

 be carefully packed in cotton, each one separated from the rest 

 of the world by a layer of cotton. It is an excellent plan to 

 wrap every large egg separately in cotton, as oranges are 

 wrapped in papers. Captain Bendire recommends the making 

 of divisions, one for each egg, with strips of pasteboard, like 

 the crates in which egg producers pack eggs for shipment to 

 market. This gives each egg a compartment by itself, with a 

 bit of soft cotton cloth at top and bottom. If produce dealers 

 can afford to take such care of eggs worth only thirty cents per 

 dozen, surely oologists can do the same when they are within 

 the pale of civilization, and can get the materials. 



At the National Museum the duplicate eggs are stored in 

 small, rectangular, shallow pasteboard trays, or half boxes, each 

 of which has its bottom covered very neatly and exactly with a 

 section of cotton wadding, which gives a soft, springy cushion 

 for the eggs to lie on without the undesirable fluffy looseness of 

 ordinary cotton batting. 

 7 



