148 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



special study to find birds' nests, and blow the eggs neatly 

 in the spring ; and of course his father preserves him the 

 eggs of Hawks, Magpies, and other birds injurious to his 

 game. 



Of course the question will arise, how to get hold of 

 birds' eggs that are not to be found within hundreds of 

 miles of the collector's residence. The best way to get 

 these is to exchange eggs with people of other districts, 

 through the medium of advertisement or a friend. Another 

 valuable assistant may sometimes be found in an angling 

 friend, who generally meets with a great number and 

 variety of birds' nests in his travels in fact, with nearly 

 all the British birds, with some rare exceptions. 



Some collectors go in for preserving the nests as well as 

 the eggs ; but this is not of much use, unless taken when 

 new, as the young birds in many cases partially destroy 

 the nest. Moreover, this practice is a great deprivation to 

 the birds, and the great bulk of such collections is out of 

 all proportion to its real use or interest ; in many cases it 

 is almost impracticable, in fact, on account of the position 

 and size of the nest. If any of our readers should wish 

 to preserve these monuments of " instinctive genius," it 

 is well to pour a few drops of spirits of turpentine into 

 the material of which the nest is constructed, and then 

 bake it carefully in an oven, in order to kill all insects, 

 which are abundant in many nests. Dome-shaped nests, 

 such as those of the Wren family, or Dippers' nests, 

 ought to have wires put inside, to preserve their shape. 



Some of our sweetest song-birds endure the vilest per- 

 secution only because they eat the black currants. In 

 many country houses may be seen whole strings of Black- 

 birds', Thrushes', and Ring Ouzels' eggs, the two latter 



