150 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 10 



faded and weather-worn, none really fine, yet 

 all "first-class!" 



Out of a large series of eggs sent to one 

 oologist, two were mended and two chipped, 

 but sent to complete the sets, either at half 

 price or without charge. With much asperity 

 came the answer, "I thought I made it clear 

 to you that I wanted none but first-class eggs; 

 these specimens will be sent back to you as 

 soon as possible, if they hold together long 

 enough." But they never came; and among 

 the specimens sent in exchange was an egg of 

 Anna's Hummer both chipped and cracked, 

 but concerning wliich the sender was discreetly 

 silent. 



Another correspondent, a)id a good one, too, 

 sent a set of Cassin's Kingbird, ho iurnhation, 

 and yet with holes twice the diameter of tliose 

 in a set of Great Horned Owl collected by 

 your correspondent. The lot of eggs in wliich 

 these came was beautifully packed; but, alas! 

 the bottom of the box, unstayed, had been 

 crushed in, and five eggs were broken. The 

 carefulness of the packing made me sorry to 

 ask that the loss be made good, but the cheer- 

 ful compliance of my fellow-sufferer made me 

 sorrier still. It is the younger collectors that 

 are most remiss. How refreshing, in contrast 

 to some of the asperities and disai)i)ointmcnts 

 noted above, the large-heartedness of some 

 of the veteran collectors, and the daintiness of 

 their specimens! Wliat a pleasure to unroll 

 the faultless skins made by II. D. E. of Massa- 

 chusetts, between suppei' and bedtime, and to 

 examine the clean, fresh eggs, blown with tiny 

 holes; and the carefully prepared nests of sev- 

 eral amateur, lorcrfi, whose names are widely 

 known, but of whom it will, perhaps, be poor 

 taste to speak in this connection. 



May I venture a few suggestions'? If skins 

 are faded and woin, don't olTer them to otheis 

 without an honest introduction. If your spec- 

 imens look as if they had just gotten out of 

 bed keep them in your own collection until the 

 shame of them sliall iiave goaded you into 

 better woikmanship. At all events, bravely 

 state to your correspondent the exact condition 

 of what you oft'er liim. 



As to eggs, don't jicrforate fresii specimens, 

 no laiger tlian a half inch in diameter, with 

 great holes into which you could thrust tlie 

 end of your blow-pipe, and then leave them so 

 that one can detect the mud-banks of dried 

 yolk remaining by holding the specimen up to 

 the liglit. If eggs iire dirty, leave them as the 

 bird left them, otheiwise, lay no six'cimen 

 down until both clean ;ind dry. Tliere is nli- 



solutely no excuse, in the main, for large holes 

 or unclean specimens. Eggs of Bell's Vireo — 

 tender eggs — in my collection have perfora- 

 tions so small that a large sized common pin 

 cannot be inserted; yet they are absolutely 

 clean. "Small-holed eggs take time to clean?" 

 Certainly, but if you are collecting in such 

 quantities that you can't take time, you have 

 passed from the sphere of the collector into 

 that of the merchandiser, and the sooner 

 others know this the better. 



One may well be half ashamed of this little 

 outburst of feeling; but all whose sense of 

 nicety in these things is any wise keen will 

 pardon it; and others are too thick-skinned to 

 be long annoyed by it. P. B. Peabody. 



Burlington, Kansas. 



A New Way of Finding the Capacity 

 of Eggs. 



In a former issue of the O. & O. Mr. Egbert 

 Bagg contributed a very suggestive article on 

 runt eggs. It set me at once to work at a job 

 at ciphering, and a test exercise in guessing. 

 First, I turned to my very meagre collection t)f 

 eggs, and measured the length of all that I 

 could find of those which I used to ascert.ain 

 the capacity of eggs in compiling the article 

 on page 207, Vol. XII, of the O. ^^^ O. (Decem- 

 ber, ISST). 1 found only nine of the species, 

 and their average measurement is as ft)llows: — 



Redueeil 



to an 

 ideal ef;g 

 Indies. Capacity. 1 in. long. 



Royal Tern, 2. .51, 4.772, .;302 



Oyster Catcher, 2.42, 2.-575, .252 



Clapper Kail, 1.75, 1.121, .27S 



Wilson's Plover, 1.4t). .7<i!t, .2S1 



Nighthawk, l.MO. .44S, .204 



Boat-tailed Grackle, 1.22, .47), .259 



Red-winged Blackbird, .04, .24;}, .281 



Nonpareil, .75, .ll.'!, .200 



Long-billed MarsliWren, .(>;!. .072, .2SS 



Average, .2()S 



I reduced each one to an ideal of^^r, an inch 

 long by cubing the length and dividing the 

 capacity by it, as ascertaine<l in the article 

 above referred to. But before comitleting the 

 operation I tried to do what I said in tliat 

 article I couldn't, viz., guess from the general 

 shape of the eggs which is the larger; or, in 

 other words, which will be above; the gencial 

 average when reduced to the* ideal inch egg. 

 Three will, I think, exceed the others — Wil- 

 sfni's Plover, Loiiii-billed Marsh Wri'ii, ai.d 



