62 



THE OOLOGIS'J 



til very smooth and thin, you must use 

 great caution in starting the drill. 

 Sometimes the egg will not even bear 

 the weight of the drill. In such cases 

 hold the egg so that you can drill hori- 

 zontally, resting the end of the drill 

 over one finger. A hole the size of a 

 pin- head will do for all fresh eggs less 

 than one inch in diameter. Larger eggs 

 in same proportion. 



Hold the tip of the blowpipe just be- 

 low the hole and blow gently. As soon 

 as a little of the white of the egg is re- 

 moved take about a half teaspoon of 

 water in your mouth and force this 

 through the pipe when you blow. This 

 will hasten the matter a great deal and 

 will also help to prevent staining small 

 eggs if the yolk breaks. Now rinse 

 your egg with clear water. This is 

 done nicely by using the blowpipe if 

 your egg is small. 



The use of a syringe saves time and 

 work on large eggs. After thoroughly 

 rinsing lay on blotting paper or other 

 good absorbent to drain. 



Never drain on common paper as it 

 may stick and. break a chip out of your 

 egg when you attempt to pick it up. 

 When thoroughly dry mark with your 

 set mark if you are collecting in sets, as 

 nearly every one does now. Then on a 

 blank, prepared for the purpose, (you 

 can get th-^m of any dealer in this line,) 

 write out the most complete data you 

 can, especially complete as to details of 

 nest and nesting site. 



Open glass top cases are not desirable 

 for eggs, as many delicate shades of 

 blue fade badly in the light. A tight 

 cabinet is best. Be sure the drawers 

 are amply deep for the size of the eggs 

 you design them for as they will some- 

 times roll up on end and a close fit may 

 result in an oological heart-ache. Also 

 be sure your cabinet is absolutely mouse 

 proof and as near moth proof as possi- 

 ble. Mice spoil every egg they touch 

 and moths weaken the shell by eating 

 out the lining membrane. 



Eggs are most handily kept in the 

 pasteboard trays supplied by dealers, 

 (both made up and in the flat,) for this 

 purpose. These can be removed separ- 

 ately and any desired set emptied out 

 at any time. A light lining of the fine 

 cotton sold for this purpose saves any 

 breakage from the jar in opening and 

 closing the drawer. 



Fixed partitions are bad as you are 

 sure to crack some small eggs when 

 trying to remove them. 



CHAPTER II.— TREATMENT OF BADLY IN- 

 CUBATED EGGS. 



If not too bad a liberal use of water 

 and plenty of gentle shaking will often 

 sufllce. If too bad for this you have 

 two alternatives. 



First, the embryo hook. Be sure the 

 hole is large enough for the size of 

 hook you use or you will catch the egg 

 in withdrawing the hook and ruin it. 

 After removing all you can with the 

 blowpipe, carefully insert the hook, 'at- 

 tach it to any part of the young bird 

 and draw gently downward. In the 

 softer stages of the embryo this will soon 

 tear it in pieces which can be readily 

 removed with the blowpipe and water. 

 If too bad to separate easily the scis- 

 sors will be necessary. These are only 

 practicable on large eggs as the hole 

 must be larger and the egg capable of 

 withstanding some strain. By drawing 

 down and snipping off a small piece at 

 a time you can often remove nearly 

 full grown embryos from eggs over one 

 inch in diameter. Be very careful 

 when you come to the head. The fine 

 pointed curved scissors are useful here 

 as they will work well into the egg. 

 In all cases be sure to shake loose by use 

 of water and remove the tough bloody 

 membrane which envelopes the embryo 

 and often remains in the shell. This 

 will often show through if allowed to 

 dry to the shell and also attracts moths. 

 Second, the use of caustic potash. 

 This is impracticable with thin shelled 

 eggs as it usually makes them too brit- 



