183 



THE OOLOGIST. 



I will pass over this style of prepara- 

 tion, with the suggestion that very fine 

 wire may often be advantageously sub- 

 stituted for the thread. 



No nest should ever be transferred 

 from collecting ground to collector's 

 home loose in game pocket, bag or 

 basket. Card board boxes should ac- 

 company the collector, of a size to 

 nicely accommodate the nests he expects 

 to find and the nest should be carefully 

 removed from its position (after your 

 measurements and notes of situation) 

 and placed in box at once. Tf pack- 

 ing is required use soft tissue paper in 

 preference to cotton which will stick to 

 nesting material and cause trouble. 



By this system and great care the 

 most perfect of specimens may be ob- 

 tained of such nests as Rails', Cuckoos', 

 Herons', Bitterns', and the like, as well 

 as fragile nests of Warblers, and many 

 others commonly considered impractic- 

 able of preservation. 



Such nests as Hawks, Crows, and the 

 like where one specimen of a kind only 

 is wanted maj' be first visited and 

 measured and then a box prepared and 

 taken to the tree, the nest carefully 

 packed and lowered to the ground by a 

 string. 



All nests of a nature too fragile to be 

 left unsupported in the cabinet, save by 

 thread or wire, are to remain in these 

 boxes permanently and as the lower 

 parts are not to be exposed cotton may 

 be used to fill the lower corners of the 

 box and form a bed in which the nest 

 will snugly rest and the shape be thus 

 protected. 



Other firmer nests may be mounted 

 for cabinet by placing in a standard of 

 wire from wood base having four 

 prongs, one supporting each side of 

 nest. Or the same devise minus the 

 wire standard and wooden base may be 

 used to support nest upright in tray. 



By the use of the boxes and great 

 care in collecting and preparing, the 

 finest specimens of bird architecture, 



which in their natural delicate perfec- 

 tion have been strangers to collections, 

 may grace the cabinet. The slightest 

 carelessness however, may destroy the 

 pristine beauty of some fragile speci- 

 men, and its true, you know, that 

 "whats worth doing, is worth doing 

 well.'' 



I would also say always have datas 

 or better a data note book and 

 before you touch a nest, take your 

 measurements and make out your full 

 data (except incubation) and other 

 notes. 



B. S. BOWDISH, 



New York City. 



A Little Chat on Pet Eirds- 



The capturing and keeping of wild 

 birds has, as far back as I can distinctly 

 recollect, been a source of perpetual 

 amusement to me and seemingly an ir- 

 resistibility to my nature- Had I the 

 time and place now to keep some avian 

 pets, undoubtedly I would have a large 

 aviary as of old. 



My first capture was made when but 

 a mere child of seven or eight summei's. 

 With string, a stick, and rusty flour 

 seive, I was taught the first rudiments 

 in the art of bird trapping. The num- 

 bers of innocent Snow-birds {Junco hy- 

 emalis) I captured that day was certain- 

 ly astonishing; before eve, I had a room 

 full, so to speak, but my -sympathetic 

 heart got the better of me, and through 

 an open window, I watched the fright- 

 ened little birds depart, taking wing in 

 the wintery air, and greatly relieving 

 my burdened and guilty conscience. 

 But seed had fallen in fruitful ground, 

 and from thence spx'ang a desire to cap- 

 ture more of the birds that flew about 

 me, or sang in the trees of my father's 

 garden. 



As I grew older more privileges were 

 granted me, I was less restricted, and 

 from time to time I wandered into the 

 woods, the fields and meadows, the 



