52 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



whole clutch. I therefore give no directions for the making of such a collec- 

 tion ; if it must be done, it should be left to those who are making a really 

 scientific study of the subject. 



I feel sure that if my readers are able to take up the charming hobby 

 of photographing eggs and nests, they will have in their finished prints an 

 infinitely more delightful record of their observation than in any number 

 of cabinets filled with empty egg-shells. 



The eggs of some species are very much alike, and to distinguish them 

 readily it may be necessary to see them side by side. Here comes in the 

 value of a good museum. Those who live in a big city, where there exists 

 such a place, can go and study the collection there. It is well worth while 

 to do so methodically, with notebook and pencil, marking down the essential 

 differences in colour, shape, size, and markings of eggs that at first sight appear 

 similar. Notes made in this way, directly in your own pocket-book, are worth 

 more than any printed matter. It is only where there is no local museum 

 or collection that it may be necessary, if you really and truly are desiring to 

 learn to distinguish the eggs and nests of British birds, for you to take occasional 

 eggs, so that you can compare them at home ; but I strongly advise you to 

 make this practice as rare as possible, for the passion of collecting grows, and 

 it may become a veritable " kleptomania." An enormous amount of harm is 

 done every year by those whose passion for collecting sends them out to 

 take birds' eggs or to shoot rare birds. 



The chapter on Apparatus gives directions on how to photograph nests, 

 eggs, and birds, amongst other things ; the only thing to be said here is with 

 regard to the few eggs that come into your possession. To blow an egg prop- 

 erly, only one hole should be drilled in it, not at either end, but in the middle. 

 A blowpipe can be made out of a piece of glass tubing, drawn out to a point 

 in a gas flame, and preferably bent at an angle. The glass tubes used for 

 filling fountain pens serve the purpose very well. 



The egg should be drilled with as small a hole as possible, and held with 

 the hole downwards whilst the blowpipe is used. The end of the latter should 

 not be inserted into the hole, but placed close by. Then when air is blown 

 into the hole, the contents of the egg are discharged easily. When empty, 

 the egg should be washed out by blowing water into it, and drawing it out 

 again. If the egg should be " set," get rid of as much of the contents as pos- 

 sible, using a needle to loosen them. If the contents are fairly solid that is, 

 if incubation is advanced I know no plan so effective for emptying the egg 

 as that suggested, I believe, first by Mr. C. Kearton, of putting it into an 

 ants' nest, and letting them do the work. This is best done by putting the 

 egg into a little tin box, with holes in it through which the ants can pass and 

 repass. Bury the tin an inch or so below the surface, and leave it. It must 

 not be left too long, or the ants will devour shell and all.* 



Every now and then you may come across a dead bird which you may 



* Do not wash any of the eggs you collect, or varnish them I 



