THE OOL'JGIST. 



45 



Tlie lieuificial iufiuence of the labors 

 tif Mr. Lawrence, with pen and pencil, 

 on the pi'oojress of American ornithohigy 

 has lieen great and undisputed, l)ut it 

 was particularly among the avifauna of 

 the West Indies, Mexico, Central and 

 South America that his most strenuous 

 elforts were exerted. All hut 17 of the 

 3iy new species of binls describi'd by 

 him came from that region. Endowed 

 with great power of analysis and a I'e- 

 markal)le patience, he applied these to 

 the investigation of specitic distinctions, 

 and liis conclusions have but rarelj' 

 been questioned. 



A scrutiny of the titles of his numer- 

 ous pa])ers will fully indicate the wide 

 scope and excellent character of the 

 work of this veteran ornithologist. 



A Letter from John B Hindtime. 



Deaii Mi{. Editor: 



Having heaid from a cousin of mine 

 who is a collecter of birds eggs tnatyou 

 publish a paper on this subject, I 

 thought my long and varied experience 

 in this line might qualify me to write 

 something of value for your journal. 

 I have collected steadily for tw^o years, 

 and have formed a tine collection of 

 one hundred and tvv'enty odd species, 

 the entire collection containing about 

 one thousand eggs, many of which are 

 rare in this vicinity and I may say rare 

 in the state. Formerly I had no taste 

 for collecting, but learning that my 

 cou.sin wa? forming a cabinet, and see- 

 ing that most of the fellows around 

 here were getting up museums, I fell 

 into line and was delighted with my 

 success for I now have a large and 

 unique collection. I shall visit my 

 cousin soon to see how his collection 

 coinpares with mine. 



This is a fine locality for collecting. 

 Robins, Bluebirds, Jaj's, and other 

 species abound, and fiequently I .see 

 specimens of French Mockingbirds and 

 Gray Mockingbirds, with an occasional 

 Hawk, Owl or Crow. On ray last 

 ramble ol saw several Hawks Hying 

 overhead in cycles and epicycles, and 

 my heart thrilled at the sight of these 

 noble birds. I highly prize the single 



specimen of their eggs, which I found 

 in a hole in a dead tree. It cost me a 

 hard climb, and I was surprised to find 

 them laying in such a place, but as I 

 shot the old bird sitting in the tree I 

 am i)ositive of my great find. 



Perhaps a few words upon preparing 

 birds' eggs may not be amiss from me, 

 as another season is about to begin, 

 and my experience in lilowiug eggs 

 should have taught me some valuable 

 lessons. 



For piercing the shell I formerly used 

 a darning-needle, but recently I pro- 

 cured a three-sided needle from the 

 carriage-maker, and I find this is an 

 improvement upon my first implement, 

 as by gently rotating it I can pierce the 

 shell with less danger of breakage. 

 Natural philosophj'^ teaches that to se- 

 cure a 11 (Av of liquid from an air-tight 

 cavity two holes are necessary, the 

 reason for which requires no discussion 

 here. The larger hole I always make 

 first in the larger end of the egg, by 

 piercing a small ring of fine holes and 

 then breaking away the part enclosed 

 in the ring. The reason I make a ring 

 of small holes is that when I pick out 

 the part enclosed there is no great 

 danger of cracking the other parts of 

 the shell, which will fi-equently happen, 

 however, with an- inexperienced egg- 

 blowist. The large opening need not be 

 more than one-fourth of an inch in 

 diameter, except in cases of heavily 

 incubated eggs, when the outlet may 

 be enlarged to meet the conditions. 

 None of my eggs contain holes more 

 than one-half an inch in diameter. 



The second hole iu the smaller end 

 of the egg I make quite small, as air 

 Avill enter through the very smallest 

 aperture, and I thiidc it spoils theclooks 

 of eggs to have two large holes. Ap- 

 plying the lips to the smaller aperture, 

 I l)low gent[y, taking care not to burst 

 the shell by suddeu j)ufl's. Sometimes 

 hard blowing is necessary, but patient 

 work is always rewarded, and the 



