56 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 



nevertheless, the rest become "suspicious,'' and the whole drawer or box should be quaran- 

 tined, if not submitted to any of the processes described beyond. Our lines of defence are sev- 

 eral. We may mechanically oppose entrance of the enemy ; we may meet him with abhorrent 

 odors that drive him off, sicken or kill him, and finally we may cook him to death. I will 

 notice these methods successively, taking occasion to describe a cabinet under head of the first. 



Cases for Storage or Transportation should be rather small, fur several reasons. They 

 are easier to handle and pack. There are fewer birds pressing each other. Particular speci- 

 mens are more readily reached. Bugs must eSect just so many more separate entrances to 

 infest the whole. Small lids are more readily fitted tight. For the ordinary run of small birds 

 I should not desire abox over 18x18x18, and should prefer a smaller one ; for large birds, a box 

 just long enough for the biggest specimen, and of other proportions to correspond fairly, is 

 most eligible. Whatever the dimensions, a proper box presupposes perfect jointing ; but if 

 any suspicion be entertained on this score, stout paper should be pasted along all the edges, 

 both inside and out. We have practically to do with the lid only. If the lot is likely to 

 remain long untouched, the cover may be screwed very close and the crack pasted like the 

 others. Under other and usual circumstances the lid may be provided with a metal boss fitting 

 a groove lined with india rubber or fiUed with wax. An excellent case may be made of tin 

 with the lid secured in this manner, and further fortified with a wooden casing. Birdskins 

 entirely free from insects or their eggs, encased in some such secure manner, will remain intact 

 indefinitely ; but there is misery in store if any bugs or nits be put away with them. 



Cabinets. — As a matter of fact, most collections are kept readily accessible for examina- 

 tion, display, or other immediate use, and this precludes any disposition of them in "hermeti- 

 cal'' cases. The most we can do is to secure tight fitting of movable woodwork. The 

 "cabinet" is most eligible for private collections. This is, in efi"ect, simply a bureau, or chest of 

 drawers, protected with folding doors, or a front that may be detached, either of plain wood or 

 sashing for panes of glass. It is simply astonishing how many birdskins of average size can 

 be accommodated in a cabinet that makes no inconvenient piece of furniture for an ordinary 

 room. A cabinet may of course be of any desired size, shape, and style. In general it will be 

 better to put money into excellence of fitting rather than elegance of finish ; the handsomest 

 front does not compensate for a crack in the back or for a drawer that hitches. There should 

 not be the slightest flaw in the exterior, and doors should fit so tightly that a puff of air may 

 be felt on closing them. The greatest desideratum of the interior work, next after close 

 fitting yet smooth running of the drawers, is economy of space. This is secured by making 

 the drawers as thin as is consistent with stability ; by having them slide by a boss at each end 

 fitting a groove in the side wall, instead of resting on horizontal partitions ; and by hinged 

 countersunk handles instead of knobs. I do not recommend, except for a suite of the smallest 

 birds, a multiijlicity of shallow drawers, accommodating each one layer of specimens ; it is 

 better to have fewer deeper drawers, into which light shallow movable trays are fitted. These 

 trays never need be of stuff over one-eighth or one-fourth of an inch thick, and may have 

 bottoms of stiff pasteboard glued or tacked on. They may vary from one-half inch to two- 

 inches in depth, but this dimension should always be some factor of the depth of the drawer, 

 so that a certain number of trays may exactly fill it. They should be just as long as one 

 transverse dimension of the drawer, and rather narrow, so that two or more are set side by 

 side. Finally, though they may be of different depths, they should be of the same length and 

 breadth, so as to be interchangeable. They may simply rest on top of each other, or slide on 

 separate projections inside the drawer. Such trays are extremely handy for holding particular 

 sets of specimens, to be carried to the study table without disturbing the rest of the collection. 



If a collection be so extensive that any particular specimen may nut be readily hunted up,. 



