82 



THE OOLOQIST 



it to set for two or three days. Then 

 again blow out wliat you can, and re- 

 peat tlie soalcing several times if 

 necessary. This is a' slow, and some- 

 what unpleasant task because of the 

 odor, but if persevered in will many 

 times reward you with a perfect set 

 of eggs thoroughly blown and rinsed 

 through medium sized holes, in spite 

 of the embryo. 



Some collectors use caustic soda to 

 dissolve embryos but personally I do 

 not approve of that method because 1 

 tried it and decided that it weakened 

 the egg shell so that the result was 

 not all that could be desired. 



If an egg has some of its contents 

 stuck on the inside surface where you 

 have difficulty in removing it, but can 

 locate where it is by holding the 

 egg up to the light, try to accomplish 

 it in the following way, — pull a soft 

 long bristle out of an ordinary brush 

 such as is commonly used with a dust 

 pan, slip one end of the bristle inside 

 the egg and gently roll the other end 

 between your thumb and finger, caus- 

 ing the end in the egg to revolve and 

 scrape the inner surface. But take 

 care that the bristle does not get 

 twisted into a knot and break the 

 shell when you withdraw it. 



In deciding the size of hole you 

 should drill in any egg a safe rule is 

 to have the hole just large enough to 

 remove all the contents and rinse 

 clean with water. Provided you can 

 do this the smaller the hole the better. 



For a collecting box to carry in the 

 field I prefer a flat oblong tin box 

 with rounded corners which will not 

 tear a pocket lining. Some candy 

 firms use a box of this description to 

 pack a pound of candy in, and 1 have 

 one which is deep enough to hold the 

 eggs of the Red-shouldered Hawk, and 

 is also very light and strong. When 

 using the box in a tree I slip a strong 

 rubber band over it to hold the cover 



on securely and I have never had an 

 egg broken accidentally since I used it. 



Never use any box with a sliding 

 cover as it is liable to catch on the 

 cotton or other material used to pack 

 the eggs in and create havoc with your 

 specimens. 



Sometime you may desire to climb 

 to a nest in a large tree when you have 

 no climbing irons with you and if, as 

 is frequently the case, the lowest 

 limbs are ten or fifteen feet from the 

 ground it may look as though some 

 hard "shinning" is necessary to reach 

 the first branches although the rest of 

 the climb may be easy enough. By 

 cutting down a small tree with plenty 

 of branches and then trimming the 

 ends of these branches off so as 

 to leave a' short length of each one at- 

 tached to the trunk, you can use this 

 as a ladder to ascend the lower part 

 of the big tree and reach the limbs 

 where climbing becomes easy. In or- 

 der to be prepared for such an emer- 

 gency I always carry a Marble safety 

 pocket axe weighing about a pound 

 and a half, which is also extremely 

 useful for various other purposes such 

 as cutting trees for a rude bridge over 

 small streams, or for chopping into 

 hollow trees where a nest cannot be 

 reached through the opening used by 

 the birds. In this connection I will 

 mention the fact that our common 

 Flicker often digs its nest hole on the 

 outer side of a decayed limb where 

 you cannot see the entrance from the 

 main trunk of the tree after you climb 

 up, and it often happens that the limb 

 containing the nest is too rotten to 

 support your weight with safety if you 

 try to swing around to the side where 

 the nest hole is, it being especially 

 difficult to reach if the limb slants out 

 at a decided angle to the trunk bring- 

 ing the nest hole on the under side of 

 the limb. Now most of us would leave 

 the Flicker's eggs alone in such a sit- 



