40 



THE OOLOGIST 



In this way it is easy to keep track 

 of the specimens. The A. O. U. num- 

 ber will at once identify the speci- 

 men, the set number "a-5" will show 

 that it is the first set taken and tliat 

 there were five eggs in it. The year 

 number beneath the blow hole will 

 show the year in which it was taken, 

 and reference to the data and to the 

 original notebook will disclose these 

 same figures. 



Having marked all of the eggs taken 

 according to the above method, the 

 next important thing is to place them 

 in a dark cabinet of some kind with 

 closely fitting drawers that will ex- 

 clude both dust and light. The light 

 will cause many specimens to fade; in 

 fact, nearly all. Dust if it settles up- 

 on the egg and the atmosphere then 

 gets damp, will set up a peculiar char- 

 acter of fungus growth on the shell 

 that will ultimately disfigure the eggs 

 for all time; particularly those having 

 solid color, like the Bluebird, Catbird, 

 Wood Thrush, Woodpecker and the 

 like. 



Of course it follows that the larger 

 the egg the easier it is to blow. Like- 

 wise the larger the egg, the same rules 

 apply to prepare it with as small a 

 drill as possible. 



Many times it will be found that the 

 specimens taken are more or less in- 

 cubated, though it is a bad practice to 

 take incubated eggs unless they are 

 specimens of unusual varieties in that 

 case the taking is entirely justified. 

 The blowing of a badly incubated spe- 

 cimen is a matter of tedious hard 

 work. Frequently you will have to use 

 an embryo hook as well as a pair of 

 very fine, sharp pointed embryo scis- 

 sors and cut the embryo within the 

 egg through the orifice made by the 

 drill with the scissors and drag it out, 

 piece at a time with the embryo hook, 

 or force small pieces of it out by in- 

 serting the point of the blow pipe en- 



tirely within the shell of the egg. To 

 do this neatly and softly will require 

 a larger hole in the shell and much 

 patience and care. 



It is never very satisfying to at- 

 tempt to use caustic potash or any 

 similar substance for the dissolving 

 of the contents of an incubated speci- 

 men, as is sometimes recommended, 

 for the reason that ultimately the shell 

 of the egg so treated will disintegrate 

 entirely and the strong alkaline action 

 will injure the tint and colors on the 

 shell. 



After a little practice it is not hard 

 to become proficient in the preparation 

 of specimens of this kind, and you will 

 discover that your standing and rank 

 as an oologist will depend very largely 

 upon the character of your work in 

 preparing your specimens. Accuracy, 

 neatness and cleanliness above all 

 things should be your motto. 



With each set of eggs — and a set is 

 the number of eggs found in the nest 

 — should be made out and kept and 

 sent with the eggs whenever they are 

 disposed of, a "data." Many forms of 

 data blanks are in existence and they 

 may be procured either of a local 

 printer or of the advertisers in the 

 columns of THE OOLOGIST; but 

 freak datas should be avoided. They 

 should neither be too large or too 

 small. A data which will just neatly 

 go into a number 6 envelope is recom- 

 mended. On this data should appear 

 the A. O. U. number by which the bird 

 is known, its common and scientific 

 name, the data of taking and the local- 

 ity in which the set was collected, 

 the number of eggs in the set, the set 

 mark by which the set is identified, 

 the state of incubation of the speci- 

 men, the means by which the eggs 

 were identified, the location and a 

 general description of the nest follow- 

 ed by any special matters of interest 

 pertaining to the set under the head- 



