pen, giving species, set mark, etc. You will be vexed if you have to open the package 

 needlessly just to find out what is in it. Your nest is now ready for transportation, and 

 it will stand any reasonable sort of abuse, short of compression in the packing box. 



Ground nests and those whose sides are not self-supporting, require special consid- 

 eration. In general, the accurately shaped nest-plug is the secret. If it is a Vesper 

 Sparrow's nest, settled into the ground, plug it; then work about with the fingers be- 

 tween the lining and the earth. When you have worked under it, lift the whole struc- 

 ture clear, and wrap it in soft tissue paper, taking care to preserve the natural outlines. 

 Upon unpacking, it is well to provide a light artificial support by wrapping it about 

 gently and not too copiously with thread. In case of especially fragile nests, a light 

 wrapping must be made afield. This may cover the hollow as well as its contained 

 plug, but the final museum shroud must be confined to the sides of the nest. After the 

 final wrapping is in place, the field cover may be dexterously snipped away and removed 

 piecemeal. 



How NOT to Do It 



In case of flat, or slightly hollowed nests, like those of a grouse or a duck, the field 

 plug, fully guarded by tissue paper, may form the core about which the walls are folded 

 over for convenience in transportation. It is a simple matter to restore such a ball to 

 the proportions of a shallow plate in the workroom, provided always that the outside 

 portions of the mass have been held snugly in place by wrappings. 



The secret of well preserved nests lies, first, in the use of the nest plug; then in the 

 generous wrapping with tissue paper (nothing else) is so good) ; and, lastly, in snug but 

 not forced packing in the shipping case. A thousand cautions rise here out of experi- 

 ence, but they all resolve themselves into care and sense. With these you can provide 

 for your museum, with slightest expense, objects of beaut}" - , which will be a joy forever 

 to you and all your friends. 



The foregoing directions are simple, explicit and ample, and they are guaranteed to 

 give correct results; but out of the fulness of an oppressed heart I venture to let out a 

 final burst of 



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