14 THE COLLECTOR'S OUTFIT 



distance from one's subject. We are not out merely to get birds' pic- 

 tures, but to record their habits with a camera, and the nearer we can 

 get to the bird without disturbing it, the better we can accomplish 

 our object. 



The Collector's Outfit. Individual preference will always play a 

 part in the selection of a gun. My own choice for general collecting 

 is a 16-bore equipped with a 0.32 auxiliary barrel. In general collecting 

 in a more or less wooded region, fully 80 per cent of your shots will be 

 fired from the auxiliary or 'aux' as it is commonly termed while 

 there will be but few occasions in the remaining 20 per cent when the 

 16-bore, if properly held (!) will permit a specimen to escape. 



Crude but effective auxiliary barrels may be made with a 16- 

 gauge brass shell and a brass tube about ten inches long and having an 

 opening the diameter of a 0.32 Ideal shell. Enlarge the cap-opening of 

 the 16-gauge shell until it will exactly receive the brass tube; stand 

 the shell on a level surface squarely on its base, place the tube upright 

 in it with its end in the enlarged cap-hole and flush with the base of 

 the shell; now, using extreme care to have the tube exactly in the 

 center of the shell, 'fill the shell about the sides of the tube with molten 

 lead. When it has cooled, counter-sink a shoulder in the base of the 

 tube of sufficient size and depth to receive the rim of the 0.32 shell, 

 file a narrow slot to enable one to remove with an awl or properly 

 sharpened nail the exploded shell, and your 'aux' is made. 



A gunsmith could do a better job and give you a barrel with an 

 extractor which will work automatically with that of your gun, and 

 such barrels may sometimes be purchased from natural history dealers; 

 but the one I have described can be made by any one and will answer 

 every purpose. In any event, test your 'aux' thoroughly until you 

 have learned its range and what load will give the best pattern and 

 penetration. I use about three-fifths fine smokeless powder with a card- 

 board and felt or leather wad, and two-fifths shot with a cardboard 

 wad. In loading a large number of shells for a prolonged collecting 

 trip, the wad over the shot may be dipped lightly in liquid paraffine, 

 which, in hardening, will tend to keep the wad from slipping. 



Since the 'aux' is used almost exclusively for birds no larger than a 

 Blue Jay, the shells for it should be loaded with No. 12 shot. For the 

 16-bore, one should carry variously loaded shells, as the nature of the 

 collecting directs. 



A hunting-coat with large pockets, a fisherman's creel, or a game- 

 bag, for carrying specimens, a bottle of corn-meal for cleaning them, 

 non-absorbent cotton for 'plugging' them, stiff paper for wrapping them, 

 and a mixture of equal parts powdered alum and arsenic for preserving 

 them, are all part of the collector's outfit. 



The bird skinner's outfit, in its simplest form, consists of one or 

 more scalpels having blades with well-rounded ends, and one, at least, 

 with a handle small enough to be used as a spoon in removing brains; 

 three pairs of scissors, one with short, heavy blades for bone-crushing. 



