VOL.1. 



G-AINES, N. Y., MAY, 1884. 



NO. 1. 



INSTRUCTIONS FOB COL- 

 LECTING BIRDS' EGGS.* 



BY J. P. NORRIS. 



Introduction. — It has been the 

 endeavor of the writer to render 

 these Instructions as concise and 

 simple as the nature of the subject 

 would pei'mit. How far he has suc- 

 ceeded the reader must determine. 



No mention has been made of the 

 •elaborate methods of blowing eggs, 

 adopted by English collectors, as it 

 requires many delicate instruments 

 to empty them in those ways, which 

 could not be easily obtained in this 

 country, and which also requires a 

 degree of care and time for their use, 

 which the writer feels confident 

 would not be bestowed by our read- 

 ers. Besides, we maintain that eggs 

 can be neatly blown by the simple 

 methods detailed in this series of 

 papers, and that the science of Oolo- 

 gy will be as much furthered by 

 specimens so prepared, as by those 

 upon which many hours have been 

 wasted. 



Without further preface, we will 

 fit once take up the subject, and first 

 we wish to make a few 



Preliminary Remarks. — Collect- 

 ing birds' eggs for scientific pur- 

 poses, requires far more discrimina- 

 tion than collecting specimens in 

 any other branch of Natural His- 

 tory. Animals, birds, insects, shells, 

 plants, &c., carry their own identi- 

 fication with them; and knowing the 

 locality, a person well versed in the 

 particular science in question, can 

 •at once pronounce what they are. 

 But with birds' eggs it is very differ- 



* This article was written a nnmber of years ago 

 for the Country Gentleman, and as we cousidec 

 :the instructions as complete as any published, we 

 jreprint them for the benefit of ithe readers of the 

 TotnsG OoLOGieT.-;[BD. 



ent. Without they are properly 

 identified and authenticated, they 

 are of no value for scientific pur- 

 poses whatever. Therefore Identifi- 

 cation and Authentication should be 

 the chief aim of the egg-collector, 

 although the other details should 

 not be neglected. 



There are many of the commonest 

 species of birds whose eggs are so 

 nearly alike, that unless they are 

 very carefully identified, serious mis- 

 takes will occur. This is particular- 

 ly tlie case with the eggs of wood- 

 peckers, two species frequently hav- 

 ing their nests in the same tree, and, 

 without great care is used in their 

 collection, the eggs of one species 

 will be confounded with those of the 

 other. With ducks' eggs also, great 

 care must be exercised. Two or 

 three species of ducks frequently 

 have their nests within a few yards 

 of each other, so that they will re- 

 quire very positive identification. 



Neatness in blowing and marking 

 the eggs, renders them more fit for 

 the cabinet, and is not to be neg- 

 lected, but the chief points to be at- 

 tended to, as being the only ones 

 by which science can be benefited, 

 are Identification and Authentica- 

 tion. 



Identification. — Whenever the 

 collector does not positively recognize 

 the parent bird of a nest of eggs, the 

 parent should be procured and pre- 

 served Avith the eggs. But if he is 

 positively certain of the identity of 

 the parent, there is no necessity for 

 obtaining it. 



When, however, he is unable to 

 procure the parent, either from not 

 being able to shoot the bird, owing 

 to its shyness, then he should make 

 a careful observation of the materi- 

 als of which the nest is composed — 



