OF THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 
| only requires an examination of the nests themselves, which 
he has thus arranged, to convince us how appropriate the terms 
_ are, which he has applied to their several structures. 
The eggs are emptied of their contents by making a very 
small hole at each end with the triangular borer (plate VL, 
fig. 8), or with the point (fig. 9, or 10). By blowing at one of 
the ends, the contents will escape by the other, unless the 
young has been already formed; in which case a larger hole 
must be made in the side of the egg, and the contents removed 
with a small hook. The hole should then be stopped up by 
pasting a little gold-beater’s leaf over it. At the Jardin des 
_ Plantes, Paris, glove-leather, or linen, are used for this pur- 
pose. The eggs are then either returned to their nest, in 
which they ought to be cemented, or should be fixed down by 
one side to cards, with the name and locality attached. 
The best manner of conveying loose eggs to a distance, is 
to put some cotton at the bottom of the nest, and then another 
| layer above them. The nests should all be put in separate 
_ boxes if possible, and so packed that the pressure of the lid 
_ may not injure the eggs, or a box with several compartments 
should be used, taking care that each is carefully marked. It 
would also be of consequence to have the nests attached to | 
_ the branches, with those species which build on trees, which || 
will enable us to trace the ingenious means employed by those 
little animals in constructing their habitations. In sending 
_ home specimens from a foreign country, the seams of the box 
_ should be covered by pitched cloth to protect them from the 
influence of moisture. 
In foreign countries, strict attention should be paid to the 
different localities in which the various species construct their 
nests, and the trees, or plants, or kinds of soil, carefully no- 
ted; and also, whether the same species invariably fix upon 
the same trees and soils for building, or what are the kinds of 
trees or soil which they choose; besides, whether the same 
materials are invariably used. All these will throw light upon — 
some curious deductions that may be drawn from a contempla- | 
tion of this part of their economy. | 
