THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST. 



DIRECTIONS FOR BLOWING EGGS. 



For all small eggs you should use 

 the smallest size drill. First make a 

 hole in the egg with a fine needle, then 

 insert the drill and turn it rapidly 

 around between the forefinger and 

 thumb. Do not try to force it through 

 the egg, or you are liable to bi'eak it, 

 but let it work its way slowly ; for 

 very small or fragile eggs use a blow- 

 pipe, but for larger ones (or even 

 small ones if not to-thin shelled) use 

 a syringe, and you can blow the con- 

 tents in a short time, and with very 

 little trouble. It is very advisable to 

 hold the egg over a basin of water, as 

 they are less liable to break in case 

 yon should chance to drop one. I 

 have blown the eggs of a great many 

 birds in this way, such as the Black- 

 capped Chickadee, Black and White 

 Creeper etc., without breaking one. 

 After they are blown they should be 

 rinsed thoroughly and allowed to 

 dry before putting them back into the 

 cabinet, for if you keep them on sand 

 it is very liable to adhere to the sur- 

 face, and cause trouble to remove it. 



One thing to guard against is crush- 

 ing the egg between your fingers. To 

 avoid this hold it by both ends, in- 

 stead of the sides, as an egg will stand 

 a great deal more pressure that way. 

 Be careful in wiping the egg not to 

 remove the color, by too much rub- 

 bing. It is hardly neccessary to say 

 that ail eggs should be side blown, 

 even if you do not have an egg drill 

 or blowpipe. Make the holes in the 

 side of the egg, the one nearest the 

 large end, the largest, and you can 

 blow out the contents as well as if 

 vou had made a hole in each end. 

 Besides the eg^s can be measured 



more accurately than they could with 

 the holes in the ends of the egg. 

 Should the egg be partly hatched and 

 contain an embryo, drill a larger hole 

 than you would if it were fresh, then 

 take a fish hook, heat it red hot, and 

 straighten it out, then you draw out 

 the contents of the egg with it quite 

 easily. Before laying away, the 

 eggs should be marked with a soft 

 lead pencil. 



€HESTNIT-8IDED WARBLER. 



On the nth of June, 1SS4, I found 

 the nest of the species. It was placed 

 lu the a forked twig of a small bush 

 about four feet from the ground. It 

 was composed of grass, wool and the 

 fine roots and tendrils of various 

 plants, and lined with horsehair. 

 The eggs were four in number, green- 

 ish white, finely dotted with brown 

 and lilac, somewhat thicker at the 

 large end. 



C. A. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST, 



Published by Frank H. Latin, Gaines N. Y. 

 Is the most practical and instructive 

 paper we have seen, that is devoted 

 to Ornithology and Oology. The 

 publisher also carries a large supply 

 of birds' eggs ; and all Naturalists' 

 supplies. 



We have received a copy of the Ool- 

 ogist's Handbook issued by Frank H. 

 Latin, which besides containing much 

 useful information also contains Ridg- 

 ways. Nomenclature of N. A. birds, 

 and the numbers used by Baird and 

 Coues. It also gives the average num- 

 ber of eggs in a set of the diflei-ent 

 birds and a price list of Naturalist 

 supplies. 



