182 



Guide to Taxidermy 



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opening and the contents will come out the same 

 hole. We consider that any form of water or hand 

 blower is useless. Eggs must not be collected in 

 any quantity sufficient to make a water blower 

 necessary and for a small number of eggs at a time, 

 your own bellows are far better than any artificial 

 ones. 



Sometimes eggs will be collected, that have well 

 formed young in them. Of course, unless it should 

 be some rare species, they should not be taken un- 

 less they are believed to be fresh. By using care 

 a good sized chick can be removed without damage 

 to the shell if you have embryo scissors and a hook 

 with which to cut it up. After you have the con- 

 tents cleaned out of the egg, blow a mouthful of 

 water in to rinse it out. Wipe it carefully with a 

 soft cloth and the egg is ready to be marked for 

 the cabinet. 



Of course an egg the identity of whose parents 

 is unknown, is useless ; so never take a set unless 

 you know what it is, or secure the bird to identify 

 it by. 



Eggs are marked with a soft black pencil; each 

 egg has to have the A. O. U. No. of the bird, fol- 



