78 



THE OOLOGIST 





COLLECTING BIRDS EGGS. 



What is Needed — Preparing Specimens. 



R. Magoon Barnes. 



II 



It is useless, even wanton, to collect 

 eggs of our birds unless with a defi- 

 nite purpose. Eggs are absolutely 

 worthless or worse unless properly 

 collected, prepared, preserved and re- 

 corded. To do these things one must 

 be equipped with some things, chiefest 

 of which is a settled determination to 

 do whatever is done well. 



First of all you will want a note- 

 book in which to record your observa- 

 tions. Do not rely on memory for any- 

 thing, the fuller and more complete 

 the notes the better. From two to a 

 half dozen egg drills and a blow-pipe 

 or two are necessary. Get the "cut the 

 lining" kind of drills of assorted sizes. 

 These with the blow-pipes may be had 

 of dealers in such instruments. They 

 should be thoroughly cleansed after 

 each using. Some sort of a receptical, 

 a cigar box filled with cotton or some- 

 thing of the kind is necessary to carry 

 eggs in while afield and a safe and se- 

 cure one in which to keep them after 

 coming home. A copy of the Ameri- 

 can Ornithologists List (The A. O. U. 

 List) and either "Bailey's Birds of the 

 Western United States," or Chapman's 

 "Birds of Eastern North America" will 

 be well nigh indespensible. Likewise 

 Charles K. Reed's "North American 

 Birds Eggs" or Oliver Davies' "Nests 

 and Eggs of North American Birds" 

 will be found of some help. 



Assuming you have some or all of 

 the above let us start out some bright 

 spring morning in quest of specimens. 

 The sun is bright and warm; there is 

 a slight balmy South wind. Spring is 

 wearing her splendid garb of fresh, 

 bright green and her brow is garland- 

 ed with bloom of riotous color while 

 perfume floats in the air. With a col- 

 lector's box full of cotton slung over 



our shoulder and our note-book in our 

 pocket we start out, full of anticipa- 

 tion and life. 



We know the Woodpeckers nest in 

 holes, and Meadowlarks on the ground 

 while Robins in trees and Indigo Bunt- 

 ings in bushes. We are starting a col- 

 lection and of course begin with the 

 common varieties. 



Suppose we find a Robin's nest in 

 an Apple tree. Here is what we do or 

 should do. First make absolutely sure 

 it is a Robin — of course we know a 

 Robin, but later we may find some 

 nests where we do not know the birds. 

 So begin right now to look and be cer- 

 tain of the identity of the owner of 

 the nest. Then we climb up and peep 

 into the nest. Only two eggs! An in- 

 complete set so we leave them and 

 pass on. 



Next we find a Blue Bird's nest in 

 an abandoned Woodpecker's hole in a 

 small dead limb of an Apple tree. We 

 are first very sure it is a Blue Bird. 

 The identity of the bird is ALWAYS 

 first. Then we look into the nest. 

 Five fresh eggs! Good! Our first 

 specimen for "our collection." How 

 shall we get them out? Our hand is 

 too large to get into the hole. It is 

 not so very far to the house and we 

 go back and borrow a saw. Slowly 

 and very carefully we saw the small 

 limb off below the nest and lower it 

 to the ground, turn it slightly over and 

 take a spoon out of our pocket and 

 lift out the beautiful blue eggs one at 

 a time. These we roll separately in 

 cotton and place in our cigar box. 

 Then we take our note-book out and 

 sit down and enter the following: 



"(1) 766a-5. Nest 7 feet up in an 

 abandoned Woodpecker's hole in dead 

 limb of an Apple tree in an orchard. 

 Birds seen, eggs fresh, nest saved. 

 Remarks. This nest was on the south 

 side of the tree and the opening was 

 toward the south east. The cavity 



