44 



THE OOLOGIST 



containing nine eggs of the Barred 

 Owl, claiming they were all in one tree 

 when they found them. I found upon 

 unpacking the eggs that they undoubt- 

 edly were Barred Owls. They all ap- 

 pear to be about the same size and 

 shape, while some were very badly 

 settled and dried while others contain 

 ed some liquid matter. All appeared 

 to have been fresh as I found no signs 

 of embryo. One very noticeable thing 

 was an unusually hard shell and quite 

 a little thicker than the usual Owl egg. 

 I took the drill and twirled it round 

 and round until I got tired and hardly 

 left a mark, so I sharpened the point 

 of my pocket knife and scraped until 

 I could see liquid oozing out or smell 

 the "delicious perfume;" then I tried 

 the drill again and found it the hard- 

 est drilling I ever done. It required 

 about three-quarters of an liour to 

 make a hole 3-32 to 1-8 inch. I have 

 not succeeded yet in getting them 

 cleaned but they are slowly coming 

 my way so I feel like I will be able to 

 save them. 



I have no reason to doubt the men's 

 word, having known them intimately 

 for over thirty years, during which 

 time one of them has assisted me in 

 getting quite a few sets of Hawk; 

 and Owls. While the shells are badly 

 nest stained I hope I may be able to 

 save them as I feel confident it is the 

 largest set of Barred Owls in exist- 

 ence. I have collected over one hun- 

 dred sets and saw about as many more 

 which I did not collect and I find two 

 or three is generally the number, i 

 have taken five sets with four and con- 

 sider them very desirable. 



O. B. Vandercock. 



Preparation of Oological Specimens 

 From Field to Cabinet. 

 We venture this chronicon in re- 

 sponse to the Editor's request in the 

 November OOLOGIST. 



It never having been our good for- 

 tune to spend a collecting season afield 

 with any of the older or younger col- 

 lectors of today, we know, therefore, 

 little or nothing regarding the methods 

 that maintain among those who are so 

 privileged to associate and exchange 

 ideas; and it is under this cowl of 

 isolation we beg leniency should that 

 which follows long since have been 

 buried in the discard of obsoletes. 



To us it has been a rather slow pro- 

 cess of evolution through a succession 

 of events not unmixed with calami- 

 ties; hence it seems befitting that we 

 here record event and calamity num- 

 ber one. 



Among the first of those with whom 

 we exchanged was Edward J. Court 

 of the Geological Survey, Washington, 

 D. C. We sent our specimens in ad- 

 vance, and rather self-satisfied, too, 

 with the preparation of our material. 

 Since the malady of ignorance is ig- 

 norance, and self satisfaction is one 

 of the symptoms of the malady, our 

 first Oological shock arrived with the 

 box of specimens shortly received for 

 the ones sent. We have not here the 

 courage to express the distress of 

 shame felt, when we saw for the first 

 time — immaculate preparation — and 

 thought of the monocle-holed-deplor- 

 ables we had offered. A solemn vow 

 was then taken to reach as nearly a 

 Court standard as our ability permit- 

 ted. 



We have since learned to know and 

 respect many other collectors for this 

 same high standard of preparation; 

 but it is to Mr. Court that we are in- 

 debted for being at least once remov- 

 ed from an inhibitory infiuence, and 

 we can never look at specimens of his, 

 either those of past years, or of our 

 present day exchange — for our corre- 

 spondence has never ceased, and his 

 standard of excellence never dropped 

 — without feeling a certain quality in 



