THE OOLOGIST'S EXCHANG 



VOL. 1 



SHARON, WIS., NOVEMBER, 1888. 



NO. 11. 



Instructions for the Oologist. 



Continued fn m August No. 



Many errors have arisen from see 

 ingh.r.ls iear eggs, and then suppos- 

 ingthein. 'o be tueir parents. There 

 are many birds— such as the (.'row fird 

 lue Blue Jay — which suck eggs, and 

 are consequently often found nearer to 

 Oilier birds, nests than they hive any 

 right to be. Again, there are others — 

 sneli as tne Titmice, Creepers, Nut- 

 haicnes and others — who, although not 

 plunderers, obtain their food by seek- 

 ing tor it even in the Very places 

 where other species breed. Among 

 the water birds also, which often breed 

 very ciuse to each other, mistakes have 

 arisen irom supposing a nest of eggs 

 loiuul in a marsii to belong to a hird 

 which fluttered on the ground and 

 showed other signs of distress, when 

 ttie real cause oi its distress was that 

 it had a nest of its own within a-few 

 feet of t le one that was found. 



The experience of a single season of 

 egg-collecting is, however, to most per-- 

 sons, worth more than pages written 

 on tins subject. 



We desire to impress it upon egg- 

 coliectors that without eggs are well 

 identified, they are of no vaiiie for 

 scientific purposes whatever. Let him 

 not consider it a waste of time, there- 

 fore, if he spends an hour, nay, even 

 two, in watching for the parent of a 

 nest of eggs of which he does not 

 know the name. One nest of eggs 

 well identified is worth more than a 

 barrel full not identified. 



If the parent of a nest of eggs does 

 not make his appearance One day 

 while you are waiting for ir,then leave 

 the eggs until the next day or the day 

 after, and then try again. Re careful 

 not 10 handle the eggs if you intend to 

 leave iliem in tne nest until the next 

 day, for some birds are so shy that if 

 the eggs are touched they will perceive 

 it and lorsake tne eggs and some will 



even break them— and thus you lose 

 the chance of identifying the: and 

 and the risk of losing them altogeth- 

 er. 



Even if you cannot identify them, 

 you should preserve them, for an eulo- 

 gist can often recognize them, and you 

 might in this/way secure some very 

 rare eggs. 



Authentication. The proper way 

 to authenticate eggs is io number 

 them, beginning with'' ft l" for the first 

 nest of eggs, ''2" for the. second, "'$" bli- 

 the third. r&c.^-writiii't>: the number 

 down on the register, with the name 

 of the bird to which they. belong oppo- 

 site to them. In the column headed 

 '•Position... of Nest, &c," should be 

 written the site of the nest, and, if it 

 beau uncommon one in your vicinity, 

 the materials of which it is composed. 



In every case where the eggs are 

 rare the nest should aeeompwny them, 

 if not to large and bulky. Attach a 

 label to the nest, with the number 

 marked on the eggs found in it, 



In the column headed "Position of 

 Nest, &c, should also be added a mem- 

 orandum of the manner in which the 

 identification was effected, thus: "Both 

 birds shot," "Bird shot," or, if the iden- 

 tilication was effected by seeing the 

 birds only,. the fact should be stated 

 thus: "Bird well seen," or "Bird seen," 

 as the case may be. Never neglect to 

 add these memoranda in all ca>>es— 

 even with the commonest e gs— as it 

 adds greatly to their valuj for scien- 

 tific purposes. 



Always mark all the eggs in the 

 same nest with the same number. 

 This latter precaution is absolutely 

 necessary to keep the nests of eggs di- 

 stinct — which is very important, and 

 should be carefully attended to while 

 collecting them. If the egg is difficult 

 to mark, owing to the greasiness of the 

 shell, ;t can be easily marked by rub- 

 hing a little tinely powdered chalk up- 

 on it. 



in marking the eggs use a pencil, 



