METHODS IN THE ART OE TAXIDERMY. 



143 



these are some remarkable nests of the North American species, .such 

 as that of Bachman's Sparrow Peiicara cesitvaNs bacJiviaiiii (And.), 

 whicli is distinctly roofed over or domed ; and a closely allied species, 

 the Texas Sparrow E))ibcrnagra rufirirgata^ Lawr, constructs a simi- 

 lar nest. The Meadowlark Slurnella magna (Linn.), builds its nest in 

 a thick tuft of grass; it is usually formed with a covered entrance in 

 the surrounding withered grass, through which a hidden and sometimes 

 winding path is made. The typical nest of the Oven-bird Sciurus 

 atirocapiUus (Linn.), is roofed or domed, with an entrance more or less 

 to one side, like the mouth of an oven. 



When a nest is very fragile and liable to fall apart, it is always 

 advisable to carefully wrap it with thread or light wire to hold it to- 

 gether, as seen in Fig. 10, Plate XLIIL If you use thread, get it as near 

 the color of the outside materials of the nest as you can. Nests which 

 have been removed from the branch on which they were placed can 

 be displayed in cases on a wire standard made similar to the one in 

 Plate XLIII, iMg. 5'. This is the style employed by Captain Bendire for 

 the arrangement of nests in the National Museum collection. The 

 label can be glued to one of the edges of the block in which this 

 standard is fastened. 



If you are desirous of making a collection of eggs of the birds of 

 any locality, the following directions may aid you : 



Remember that an egg has no scientific or financial value if it has 

 no name. Therefore, be very particular to identify all eggs collected. 

 If you do not, you will have, in many respects, a worthless collection. 

 If the eggs in a nest are strange or unknown to you, do not touch 

 them until you have procured the parent bird. If you cannot skin 

 the bird, preserve its head, wings and feet until you can have them 

 identified. The student of oology should by all means learn to skin 

 birds and put them in proper shape. He will then make few mistakes 

 in his data. 



Empty the contents of an o^^r^g through one smoothly drilled hole 

 in the side, and drill it as small as can be got along with. Force the 

 contents out by blowing into the hole with a blow-pipe. Do not make 

 holes at the ends of an egg for the purpose of blowing out the con- 

 tents. Do not hold it too tightly in your fingers, for, if it breaks, you 

 will learn at once that a thing of beauty is noi alzcays a joy forever. 

 If the embryo is partially or fully developed it will require time and 

 patience to completely remove it. Sometimes incubation is so far 

 advanced that the shell has become very tender and it should be 

 strengthened by covering the entire ^%'g with court plaster. The hole 



