208 



THE COLOGLST. 



A Mechanical Egg Drill Improved. 



Seeing a iveeiit article in tlic OoLo- 

 GIST, how ti) make a meeliaiiical i';4;j,- 

 drill, 1 will tell my Oologieal trieiui.s 

 about m^' di-illing ai){)aratu.s, uiiieli I 

 like much better than the one tleseribed 

 in July 0(jL()GiST by Fred \V. IStaek. 



First, I got a fifty cigar box and then 

 I made two wdieels, one larger than the 

 other. The larger one measured 3i^ in. 

 diameter and for the .smaller one, I used 

 a No. 40 Clark's cotton spi)ol. 



Having gotten my wheels in shaj)e, 

 I proceeded to make spindles for them 

 to work on. The larger Avlieel's sindle 

 should project out on the .side that the 

 liox opens on, and fixed for a crank to 

 work on, by means of which the -drill 

 is to be put in motion. For the small- 

 er wheel's spindle I got a reed that the 

 drill I wanted to use would fit in the 

 hollow nicely — mA to tight. 1 then 

 fastened each wheel <ni its respective 

 spindle. Then I got a piece of wood 

 an inch wide, quarter of an inch thick 

 and long enough to tit in the box length- 

 wise, and made two holes in it large 

 enough for the spindles to work in 

 loosely and in such a position that 

 neither wheel W(juld touch the ends or 

 sides of the box in running. T also 

 made two corresponding holes in the 

 Itottoiu of the 1jo\. The spindle of the 

 smaller wheel must be long enough and 

 so arranged that the drill can be put in 

 position for drilling from the bottom. 

 r forgot to say that I cut a groove 

 around the larger wjicel for a band to 

 work on. 



Having everything adjusted in their 

 ])roper places with a baiulon the wheel.* 

 (For a band I used a pie;-e of twine.) J 

 fastened the ])iece of wood in its place 

 with some small tacks. I then made a 

 crank and fixed it on so that it could be 

 removed to let the box shut. 



If everything is well adjusted one can 

 tlrill eggs as if by nu\gie. 



All I have to flo when I want to diill 



eggs, is to o])en my box, ailjiisl tiie 

 crank ami drill. ])lace the bo\ on one of 

 its sides (not boKoni, toj) n(U' ends) and 

 fasten it wirli a small tack to hold it 

 steady, and tluii 1 am reaily t'oi- work. 

 J. W. r. SMrriiwicK, 

 Sans Souci, IS . ('. 



Birds Moving their Eggs. 



The September number of your valu- 

 able little monthly just received, and in 

 perusing its contents, 1 noticed a query 

 as to ^vhat !)ecame of a certain set of 

 Vireo's eggs which mysteriously disap- 

 peared from the nest and were replace<l 

 by a Cowlnrd's egg. My thetu'y is that 

 the Cowbird removed them before de- 

 positing her own. The gi-ound fortius 

 belief is based ui)on a tenanted nest of 

 the Red-eyed Vireo fcmnd l)y me this 

 year. It was a In-autiful little cup- 

 shaped structure suspended from the 

 fork of a small dogwood tree, and when 

 found contained one egg. Visiting the 

 ue.st live days later, three more eggs 

 had been laid, this making a set of four 

 which I did ]iol take, as my cabinet 

 already abounded in eggs ofthissjie- 

 cies. Collecting in the same swamp, 

 the following Sunday, I peeked into the 

 nest and to my surprise, found two ol 

 the Vireo's eggs gone, and theic rt- 

 spective places occupied by a pair of 

 ugly cow])ird"s eggs, both of which, 1 

 destroyed. I searched the ground in 

 the vicinity thoroughly for the missing 

 eggs, and at last found one about "M 

 feet from the nest. It was perfect with 

 the exception of a hole in the side as 

 though the shell had been [junctured b\ 

 the liill of some bird and the contents 

 eaten out. Sometime alter this visit, 1 

 chanced to pass that way, and cmuosity 

 prompted me to pull d(jwn the limb and 

 look into the nest; here a second sur- 

 prise awaited me, for the nest contain* d 

 foui- eggs of the cowbird and one little 

 cowbird just struggling into existence. 



In regard to birds carrying eggs from 



