214



Graham Renshaw,



feared, have rare eggs or dead young ones been thrown away, merely

through ignorance of some method of retaining them for future study.


Eggs which it is desired to preserve should be emptied by

drilling with a steel drill a neat, hole in the centre of the egg, care

being taken to select a site free from conspicuous markings. A blow-

pijje of glass or metal having been inserted into the hole, the contents

are then neatly expelled by blowing down the tube, the white and yolk

streaming past the blow-pipe between the pipe and the rim of the hole.


The former barbarous method of making a hole at each end with

a pin often resulted in ruining the shape of the egg by damaging one

or both ends ; the later practice of making two holes at the side is

now also discarded in favour of the neat, one-hole method. After

blowing, the egg is allowed to become thoroughly dry before placing

in the cabinet; if this precaution is omitted, mould and mildew are

only too likely to appear on the shell. Before being put away the

egg should always be inscribed with the name of the bird and date of

laying. These details should be written on the egg itself, for labels

tend in time to become detached and lost.


Hard-sat eggs containing well-developed embryos may

occasionally come under the notice of the aviculturist. The hole

should be drilled at the side as before, and the egg put away for a day

or two to allow the embryo to soften ; it may then in many cases be

cautiously extracted after cutting it to pieces with fine curved scissors.

Obstinate cases may be injected with a solution of caustic potash,

the egg then being well shaken and left to stand for twelve hours ; it

is then again shaken, and the softened embryo blown out if possible

by the blow-pipe. If, however, the embryo is on the point of hatching,

and the egg is boldly marked, the shell may be carefully bisected with

a minute file, the embryo extracted, and the two half-shells neatly

gummed together ; if the filing has been carefully done the mark of

the union will be hardly noticeable on a richly spotted specimen. With

white eggs a good plan is either maceration by caustic potash or

embryotomy. The aviculturist may, however, prefer to place the

egg on an ants’ nest. The ants will enter by the drill-hole, and in the

majority of cases end by completely emptying the shell. Hard, well-

formed bone will, however, resist their efforts.



