Egg- Collecting and Egg-Dcstruction. 



59 



egg-collecting being only one of the means of acciuiring this knowledge. 

 He slionld collect for himself, and shonld never receive an egg into his 

 cabinet unless authenticated by an individual in whom he can implicitly 

 trust. To him, therefore, no dealer need ai)])ly, and under these con- 

 ditions egg-collecting has all the excitement of sport, and the final 

 acquisition of a rare ^^^, after perhaps years of waiting and watching, 

 is a triumph, and the (t<gg is itself a trophy of which the possessor is 

 justly proud. . . . When once the eggs of a particular l)ird have been 

 obtained, they are rarely required again ; but the breeding haunt being 

 known, the return of the birds may be looked for in each succeeding 

 year, and their habits watched and noted during the whole period of in- 

 cubation." 



We would also draw attention to the value of photography 

 to the ornithologist, in affording a permanent record of the 

 appearance of nest and eggs amid their natural surroundings, 

 (see Pirate 3). By photographing a nest and taking careful 

 notes, instead of plundering it, the naturalist will avoid 

 useless sacrifice of life and happiness to the birds, and make 

 a far more valuable contribution to science than by accumu- 

 lating multitudes of empty shells displayed on cotton-wool. 



Let us, then, so far as lies in our power, watch over and 

 protect our rarer breeding birds, and discourage all unneces- 

 sary destruction of their eggs, lest, harried and persecuted, 

 they be gradually exterminated, or be driven from our in- 

 hospitable shores to seek a securer home in far distant lands. 



THE FLORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. 



BY R. LI.OYD PRAEGKR, B.B., M.R.I.A. 



{Continued from page 38). 



The following plants I found in more or less abundance in 

 every part of the county, and they require mention only for 

 statistical purposes, and in order to make my enumeration of 

 the flora complete. 



Anemme nemorosa. H rcpens. Nasturfium qth'cmi/.'. 



Ranunculus peltatus. R. acris. Barharea vuh/ans. 



R hederaceiis. R- hulhosus. Cardamine flexuosa. 



B.sceleratus. Caltha palustris. C. Inrsuta. 



R.flamnula. Nymp/um alba. g^-./"'"/''"^''^- , . , 



B, ficaria Nuphar luteum. Sisijrnbrium oj^cimile. 



R. auricomus. Fumaria offiamlis. Brassica campestns. 



