COLLECTING NESTS AND EGGS. Il 
NESTS AND EGGS. 
The nests and eggs of birds are largely collected, espec- 
ially by the young, and many a naturalist of note traces his 
interest in zoology to h's early cabinet of eggs. It is not 
necessary to tell where to lock for nests as every one with his 
eyes open can find them. Some are in tail trees, some birds 
build in bushes, some on the ground, while others affect the 
habitation of man. 
When anest is found, great care should be taken to iden- 
tify the bird to which it belongs, otherwise both nest 
and eggs are scientifically useless. In some cases 
and especially with collectors in foreign countries, 
it will be necessary to shoot the parent birds to ac- 
complish this. All of the eggs should be taken and 
labelled at once so as to be beyond a doubt at any Boe 
time. The contents should also be extracted. This } 
is effected by boring a hole in ove size of the egg with an “egg 
drill” (a steel instrument which can be procured of any dealer 
in naturalists’ supplies), fig. 2, and through this opening all 
contents may be withdrawn. [or this purpose some use a 
fine nozzled syringe, while others insert the tip of a jeweller’s 
blow-pipe into the opening, and then by Llowing in the egg 
the yolk is forced out around the sides of the pipe. If incu- 
bation has proceeded to any length it will be necessary to cut 
the embryo up with fine pointed scissors and extract it in 
fragments with the aid of a bent needle. ‘The interior should 
then be thoroughly rinsed, first with water and then with 
