22 COLLECTING NESTS AND EGGS 



mate formation of what Major Bendire has called "a small, thoroughly 

 identified, well-prepared, and neatly cared for collection," which, as 

 the same author adds, "is worth far more scientifically and in every 

 other way than a more extensive one gained by exchange or purchase." 



An egg collector's outfit consists of several drills, an embryo-hook, 

 a blowpipe, forceps, and scissors. A fresh egg should be blown through 

 a hole slightly larger than the tip of the blowpipe. Drill the hole in 

 the side of the egg, and, after inserting the blowpipe about one-six- 

 teenth of an inch, blow gently and steadily until the contents have been 

 removed. Then rinse the egg thoroughly with water and lay it hole 

 downward on corn-meal to drain. 



In eggs containing embryos it is necessary to make a hole large 

 enough to permit of the use of the embryo-hook, scissors, or forceps, 

 as the case may be. 



Each egg should be marked with the number of the species in the 

 'Check-List' of the American Ornithologists' Union, the number of the 

 set in your collection, and the number of eggs in the set. Thus, if I 

 were about to label my second set of four eggs of the Bluebird, I should 

 write with a lead pencil on each egg, near the hole, 766i. 



There are many ways of displaying collections of eggs. Some col- 

 lectors place their eggs in little boxes or partitions filled with sawdust 

 or cotton; Major Bendire used small pasteboard trays lined, bottom 

 and sides, with cotton wadding, and divided into partitions for each 

 egg by strips of cotton wadding set on edge. It is, however, very largely 

 a matter of taste, and collectors generally have their own ideas on 

 these matters. 



A collection of birds' nests is a telling object lesson in the study 

 of ornithology. Familiar as I am with them, I never see the nests of 

 some birds without feeling the most intense admiration for the mar- 

 velous skill which has aided them in forming a structure man would 

 find it difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate. A bird's nest in its 

 original site is a concrete expression of the intelligence of its maker; 

 for the foresight displayed in the choice of a situation, and the inge- 

 nuity shown in the construction of the nest, even if largely instinctive 

 now, originated in the intelligence of a line of ancestors. 



Nests may be collected before they have been used, when the birds 

 will generally build again; or you may wait and take them after the 

 birds have left them, labeling each nest with what you have learned 

 of the history of its owners. For example: Time required for its con- 

 struction; whether made by one or both sexes; notes on the laying of 

 the eggs; period of incubation; whether both sexes assisted in incu- 

 bation; care of the young; number of days they were in the nest, etc. 



Some nests, for example the pendent "baskets" of Vireos or such 

 as are placed in crotches, should be taken with the crotch or branch 

 to which they are attached. 



With others it is obviously impossible to do this. They should there- 

 fore be placed in a frame of wire and wrapped about with fine wire 



