THE OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



VOL. II. 



NEW YOBK, MAY., 1889. 



No. 2. 



Instructions for Collecting Bird's Eggs. 

 {Concluded from December JVb.) 



SUGGESTIONS FOE FINDING THE NESTS OF 

 BIKDS. 



Birds breed in accordance with the 

 latitude of the country they select, and 

 their eggs are to be found from February 

 to August. Most birds, however, breed 

 in the months April, May and June ; but 

 the nests of all Jarge hawks and owls 

 should be sought for at least a month 

 or two previous, according to the lati- 

 tude of the place where the collector is 

 located. In fact it is utterly impossible 

 to give exact dates for certain species, 

 as they vary in almost every State, and 

 even the different parts of a State. The 

 collector must use his own judgment in 

 regard to this point, and be on the look- 

 out for the early breeding birds. 



Many hawks and owls breed in de- 

 serted crow's nests, and also in holes and 

 cavities in decayed trees. When they 

 go to the trouble of building a nest for 

 themselves it can hardly be distin- 

 guished from that of a crow, if it be on 

 a tree. A great many species of hawks 

 and owls have a great partiality for the 

 nest occupied by them during the previ- 

 ous season, and they will often return to 

 it year after year. 



The eggs of all woodpeckers, creepers, 

 titmice, nuthatches, &c. , are very rare, 

 and extremely difficult to find, owing to 

 the unexpected cracks and crevices in 

 which they breed. 



Many sandpipers and plovers breed 

 in plowed fields, and in meadows near a 

 fence, or in a clump of grass. All eggs 

 of this class of birds are much wanted 

 by oologists. They are hard to find, 

 owing to a habit that they have of run- 

 ning along the ground for a distance 

 before taking flight, and thus mislead- 

 ing the collector as to the position of 

 their nest. If concealed, the collector 

 will often have an opportunity of seeing 

 them alight near their nest. If they are 

 particularly shy, and persist in running 

 before taking flight, try the experiment 

 of discharging a gun suddenly. Very 



often in their fright they will take wing 

 directly from their nest. 



Another good way to find the nests of 

 birds that breed in the grass or in 

 marshes, is to throw down your hat or 

 some other article, as near the place 

 where the bird rose as you can. Now 

 hunt round in a circle from the object 

 which you threw down, and you will 

 stand a much better chance of finding 

 the nest, than if the eye had no guide to 

 help it. A dog (particularly a trained 

 setter or pointer) is a very valuable com- 

 panion for an egg collector. He should 

 be well taught, however, not to rush in 

 and break or devour the eggs before 

 his master can come up. 



In conclusion dear reader, I would 

 ask you if you are an egg collector ? If 

 so, you have chosen one of the most 

 rational and interesting of sports. Sport 

 it certainly is, and quite as legitimate 

 sport as the pursuit of the birds them- 

 selves ; for when you kill the bird you 

 destroy all hope of future progeny, but 

 if a nest of eggs be taken, cannot its 

 owner readily replace them with another 

 lot ? t 



A Day's Collecting Trip. 



by H. D. Carman. 



One fine morning last spring my 

 friend Charlie Hill and myself, armed 

 with camping outfit, collecting boxes and 

 guns, took the early morning train for 

 Courtright, a small village about four- 

 teen miles down the St. Clair Biver. 

 Upon reaching there we got off the train 

 and struck out into the country for 

 about three miles, and camped in a 

 large bush of about seventy acres, com- 

 posed mostly of heavy timber, with 

 here and there a small space of swamp 

 and brush. On'our way in, my friend, 

 who is an ardent sportsman, shot a tame 

 goose, for which he afterwards had to 

 pay. We spent the rest of the day in 

 building a hut, made of fence rails 

 chinked with moss, and roofed over with 

 branches. We retired early and after a 

 refreshing sleep awoke at 5 o'clock in 

 the morning, and found to our disgust, 



