44 C.C. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



Having found a nest and taken specimens you should blow them 

 on the spot, as if carried empty they are not so liable to break. A 

 tin box is the best thing to carry them in, each egg should be wrapped 

 up separately in cotton-wool and not laid in layers with wool between 

 each layer. The best form of egg drill is made of a piece of steel 

 rod ground to a conical point. One hole only should be made in the 

 egg by twisting the drill between the fingers and the contents blown 

 out by blowing air in with a glass or brass blow pipe. A glass blow-pipe 

 is easily made by heating a piece of glass tubing in a gas flame and 

 drawing it out to a point at one end. With small fresh eggs the end 

 of the blow pipe need not be inserted into the egg, the jet of air 

 from the pipe, held just outside, being sufficient to force out the 

 contents. 



If the egg is small and hard set the best way to get the inside out 

 of it is to wind very narrow strips of gummed paper round and round 

 it in all directions and leave it until quite dry. A large hole may 

 then be drilled into the shell through the paper and the contents 

 may then be picked out with a hooked needle and small scissors. All 

 eggs should be washed out with plain water, but care should be taken 

 never to wash the outsides unless it is absolutely necessary as 

 the colouring matter in many cases washes off easily and the speci- 

 mens are then spoilt. This warning will be found especially useful in 

 the case of the eggs of waders. The skin round the hole should be 

 cut away, a small etching pen being a very good implement to use 

 for this purpose and the egg should finally be allowed to drain and 

 dry before being put away. 



In the case of large thick-yolked eggs it is better to cut the skin 

 away before blowing as the contents will then come out much more 

 easily. When eggs are hard set the skin lining the egg should always 

 be drawn out, a hooked needle being useful for this purpose, as other- 

 wise the egg will become discoloured and will not keep well. 



It is advisable to write round the hole the name of the bird, the 

 date on which the egg was found, the place at which it was taken, 

 and if more than one egg is taken from the same nest, a letter should 

 be put on each egg from the same clutch. 



The neighbourhood of Cheltenham is a very good one for birds, 

 as during the past three years the lecturer had found the nests of 

 eighty-three different sorts of birds within a few miles of the town and 

 there are most certainly very many more to be found 



The process of nest building is one which well repays a little 



