PREPARING EGGS FOR THE CABINET. 33 



the head of a common-sized dressing-pin ; and in every 

 case the hole should be as small as can be got along 

 with. Incubated eggs, however, present difficulty in 

 proportion to the size of the contained embryo. The 

 shell grows more fragile as incubation advances ; the 

 membrane which lines the shell grows thicker and 

 tougher. The hole must, therefore, be made larger, 

 and be drilled with greater care ; the embryo, if ad- 

 vanced in size, must be cut in pieces with fine narrow- 

 bladed scissors, and extracted piecemeal with forceps 

 or a hook ; the lining membrane is to be extracted, if 

 possible, by the same means ; and particular attention 

 must be paid to thorough rinsing. Any attempt to 

 force out an embryo by strong blowing is apt to burst 

 the egg. With due care, however, a perfectly formed 

 embryo may usually be removed without accident. 

 The shell being empty and clean, it should be placed 

 with the hole downward on blotting-paper, to drain ; 

 and when perfectly dry, and marked with a number, 

 it is ready to be placed in the cabinet. The only after 

 care is to keep the specimens from the light and from 

 the dust. 



I repeat the caution, that the young collector cannot 

 be too careful to identify and authenticate his eggs ; 

 to keep them during blowing and afterward without 

 mixing them up, and to be explicit and precise in his 

 register-entries. A badly made collection of eggs is 

 worse than worthless for any scientific purpose ; it is 

 only fit for a child's amusement. 



The whole subject of collecting birds and their eggs, 

 and of preparing them for preservation in the cabinet, 

 is fully treated in Coues' " Field Ornithology," to which 

 the reader is referred for further particulars. 

 3 



