THE NIDOLOGIST 83 
North, our views may change, but until then 
let us be sensible and not misinform the great 
majority who depend upon a catalogue (and 
justly, too) for a large stock of valuable knowl- 
edge. 
Prices in general in this new Catalogue will 
be found to be considerably higher than for- 
merly, but it is just and proportionate, while in 
some cases a drop in price has been found 
necessary. ‘The demand for certain eggs has 
been given fully as much weight as that of 
supply. For example, the eggs of the Golden 
Eagle are not rare, yet from their beauty are 
greatly in demand for series, like certain other 
well-distributed Raptores’ eggs, and therefore 
deserve to be priced at a higher figure. Some 
of the commoner birds’ eggs are difficult to 
secure, from the nature of their nesting; others, 
again, are raised in price by the new “ Stand- 
ard,” owing to increasing rarity, as the Purple 
Finch. Prior lists have aimed to indicate by 
the asterisk (*) eggs secured only in Europe, 
but have omitted it where it should have ap- 
peared in many cases, failing in others to price 
doth the foreign and American-taken specimens. 
It is thought that these misleading points have 
been pretty well corrected in the new Standard 
American Egg Catalogue. 
It should be noted that casf prices, published 
from time to time by dealers and others, seldom 
really influence exchange values, for they do not 
indicate, fev se, an overstocking of the market, 
nor yet, sometimes, that even the more prom1- 
nent collectors are supplied, or are likely to be 
soon. 
Credit is due to Mr. A. M. Ingersoll, the well- 
known and thorough field collector, for the 
idea of a table of nest valuations. No attempt 
of the kind has heretofore been made to put a 
valuation upon nests, and the present table will 
be found to be compiled with great care, taking 
into consideration weight, bulkiness, and diffi- 
culty of securing and packing. 
Owing to the expense of publication the price 
is 20 cents, postpaid, slightly higher than was 
at first intended, but still nominal, considering 
the value of the list. 
Attention is called to the fact that while 
there are other catalogues called “ Standard,” 
this is the oly collectors’ catalogue, and the 
only one that is claimed to be up to date or 
printed for permanent and general use. It is 
submitted confidently by the compiler and the 
representative Odlogists who have labored in its 
behalf. 
Taylor's Standard American Egg Catalogue 
is the title. It is not connected in any wise 
with any other “catalogue,” past, present, or 
future. It is for sale ov/y by the publisher. 
H. R. Taytor. 
To Identify Nestlie Water Birds. 
HE birds will soon be with us again, 
and the Odlogist will once more sally 
forth in search of specimens for his 
cabinet. It is the purpose of this article to 
bring to his notice a new way to secure the 
parent bird in order to identify its eggs. 
In the season of 1895 I met, in the course of 
my collecting, with a serious difficulty. I dis- 
covered some Grebe’s nests at Little Lake, near 
Barrie, but could not tell to what species they 
belonged, for the simple reason that I could not 
even see the birds, much less shoot them, 
although I heard them calling every day. 
I tried setting snares on the nest, but that 
did not succeed. I then tried to shoot a bird 
by waiting in the boat near the nest, but al- 
though they were quite close to me, calling to 
each other several times, yet I could not catch 
even a glimpse of them. I was now thoroughly 
disgusted with Grebes and their ways, which, in 
my opinion, were altogether too modest and re- 
tiring. On July 3 I took a set of six eggs, and 
on July 9 a set of eight, trusting to identify 
them later. 
In my boathouse I had a lot of No. 1 steel 
traps, which I determined to try on the Grebes. 
I set one in the afternoon of July 10 in a nest 
containing four eggs. On returning next morn- 
ing, having found a prize in the shape of a set 
of two Loon's eggs on the way, the Grebe, a 
Pied-billed one, was in the trap, caught by the 
leg. Taking it out I threw it up in the air, ex- 
pecting to see it fly off, but it could not, and 
dove as soon as it reached the water. 
On July 20 I took another set of five eggs. 
The bird was unfortunately drowned in this 
case, having pulled the trap off the nest. I 
found that to prevent this the trap should be 
tied short so that it could not be pulled into 
the water. On July 26 I set a trap on a nest 
containing four eggs, near where I took the set 
of six on July 3, and likely owned by the same 
pair. I went away for about half an hour, and 
when I returned the bird was inthe trap. I took 
it out and placed it in the boat, which it could 
not get out of. I then returned to the boat- 
house and left it there, while I went to set a trap 
on a nest containing three eggs, near where I 
took the set of eggs on July 9, and probably 
built by the same birds. When I came back to 
the nest the bird was in the trap caught by the 
leg, as all the others had been. I placed it in 
the bottom of the boat, where it was quite safe, 
and went ashore. 
I carried both birds to a small pond, about 
three quarters of a mile away, and let them go, 
They scrambled down the bank, and seemed 
very glad to get back into their native element, 
