76 EGG CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
After the egg is blown it should be thoroughly rinsed by taking water 
into the mouth and spirting it through the blow-pipe. 
Eggs, as a rule, should be kept in sets; a ‘‘set’’ being those taken 
from any one nest; and each one of a set should bear a number referring 
to a corresponding one in a note-book where full particulars of the nest 
and eggs should be given. _ A printed label or data blank similar to the 
following diagram is also necessary : 
Gollected: by. 1 sent aepitee tataateteucttins te eee.’ pate cheat meee 
Liocalittiy v3.2.0 Pome ok eget eg ea seats coe at tl eee tee 
For illustration, the blank lines of the label should be filled in the fol- 
lowing manner: No. 126. Name, Arkansas Flycatcher. Collected:by 
J. L. Clemmons. Locality, San Diego, California. Date, June 2, 1881. 
Set, 1% (indicating that the number of eggs in this set is four). _ Identity, 
bird seen on nest. Incubation, begun. Nest, made of coarse sticks and 
twigs, lined with hair and cotton, placed in an “« Australian Gum Tree,” 
twenty feet from the ground. 
All these data should be carefully written, and the label placed in the 
cabinet with the eggs. __If there are several sets of the same species, the 
collector should have his own number to distinguish the sets. 
The label with full data should a/ways accompany the set in making 
exchanges. Besides the above particulars the note-book should be filled 
with memoranda devoted to the record of nests found and examined; the 
general nature of the surroundings; the precise color and condition of the 
eggs when found, as all these fade quickly from the memory. 
Few persons make extensive collections of nests; many birds make 
no nests, others only such structures as cannot well be preserved; those 
that can be collected require a wrapping of thread for their safe keeping. 
Nests and nesting places, are therefore, as a rule, described and recorded 
in a note-book, and not kept for study. 
