COLLECTING NESTS AND EGGS. II 



NESTS AND EGGS. 



The nests and eggs of birds are largely collected, espec- 

 ially by the young, and many a naturalist of note traces his 

 interest in zoology to h'.s early cabinet of eggs. It is not 

 necessary to tell where to look for nests as every one with his 

 eyes open can find them. Some are in tall trees, some birds 

 build in bushes, some on the ground, while others affect the 

 habitation of man. 



When a nest is found, great care should be taken to iden- 

 tify the bird to which it belongs, otherwise both nest 

 and eggs are scientifically useless. In some cases 

 and especially with collectors in foreign countries, 

 it will be necessary to shoot the parent birds to ac- 

 complish this. All of the eggs should be taken and 

 labelled at once so as to be beyond a doubt at any 



FIG. 2. 



time. The contents should also be extracted. This 

 is effected by boring a hole in one side of the egg with an "egg 

 drill" (a steel instrument which can be procured of any dealer 

 in naturalists' supplies), fig. 2, and through this opening all 

 contents may be withdrawn. For this purpose some use a 

 fine nozzled syringe, while others insert the tip of a jeweller's 

 blow-pipe into the opening, and then by blowing in the egg 

 the yolk is forced out around the sides of the pipe. If incu- 

 bation has proceeded to any length it will be necessary to cut 

 the embryo up with fine pointed scissors and extract it in 

 fragments with the aid of a bent needle. The interior should 

 then be thoroughly rinsed, first with water and then with 



