Ilinls on Practical Collecting. 59 



jrawn together ; the bird should then be placed in a 

 cone o£ paper or have a tight band of paper pinned 

 round it and allowed to dry. 



4. Ticketing. — Every bird-skin should have attached to it 



a ticket on which should be recorded : — (1) name ; 

 (2) exact locality of collection ; (3) date ; (4) name of 

 collector ; (5) sex ; (6) colour of iris, bill, and feet in 

 the flesh. 



5. Sexing. — Every bird should be sexed by dissection. The 



body as removed from the skin should be opened along 

 the left side (right side when lying on its back) by an 

 incision along the ribs. The intestines should be gently 

 pushed on one side and the roof of the body-cavity, 

 where lie the long reddish kidneys, examined ; if at 

 the top end of the kidneys there are two egg- 

 shaped or sometimes black bodies lying side by side, 

 these are testes and the sex is male ; if there is on 

 the left-hand side of the body, lying in a corresponding 

 position, a yellowish mass of eggs of various sizes, the 

 bird is a female. 



B. — Directions for Collecting Birds' Eggs. 



1. Eggs should not be taken from a nest until the parent 



birds have been carefully watched and identified. 



2. Eggs should be blown through one hole only ; this should 



be made in the middle (not at one end) with a drill, 

 and the blowing done with a blowpipe. 



3. Each egg should be marked with a number and careful 



notes kept in regard to : (1) the name of the bird ; (2) the 

 date of taking and whether the eggs were fresh or 

 incubated ; f3) the number of eggs in the nest ; (4) the 

 situation, structure, and position of the nest. 



