HOW TO COLLECT AND PRESERVE BIRDS' NESTS 



The greatest difficulty which the M. C. O. encounters in its endeavor to build up 

 a representative collection of nests and eggs, is to secure well collected birds' nests. 

 Collectors whose data are models of neatness and accuracy, will, do up nests as though 

 they were handfuls of grass plucked at random, and they will jam them into packing 

 boxes without reference to any possible outlines which nature may have intended. 

 Oologists will putter for hours coaxing an embryo through a microscopic orifice, while 

 a flawed hole will throw a veteran into spasms. But the same "oologist" will tear a nest 

 out of a thorn bush, heedless of the fact that the bush will claim the outside half of the 

 structure for its own portion. Then he will crowd a fistful of cotton into the hollow, 

 wrap the package in a piece of old newspaper, tie it with a piece of fish cord, and thrust 

 the package into a side coat pocket, while he pursues his investigations in the jungle. 

 If there is anything left at nightfall, it will make good stuffing for the camp cushion; 

 and if it, the "nest," survives that service, it will be ready for transportation and dis- 

 play! 



Pardon the writer's emotion. He has suffered immeasurably at the hands of those 

 who collect birds' nests as school boys chop kindling, merely from a sense of duty. 



Common sense would suggest that a bird's nest, if intended for study or exhibition 

 purposes, should be preserved substantially as the bird made it. And if a kindly Provi- 

 dence has endowed the collector, also, with some little esthetic sense, he will realize 

 that the design of nature cannot be improved upon, and he will exercise his ingenuity to 

 retain, if possible, the authentic flavor, the drollerie, or the jauntiness, imparted by the 

 feathered artists to her handiwork. At any rate, the difference between "just nests" and 

 nests preserved with the bloom on, is the difference between Canal Street and Beacon 

 Street, or, say, between pitching hay on the farm and a winning game at billiards. 



For those who desire or intend to play the game, the following suggestions may be 

 of service. In speaking of nests, we do not need to consider in this brief space the 

 problems which arise in connection with vefy large structures, like Eagles' nests; nor 

 exceptionally fragile ones, like Swifts' or Hummingbirds'. The habitual use of common- 

 sense methods designed for the ordinary run of nests, will develop collectors' gumption, 

 and will prepare the nest-hunter to meet cases with exceptional care. Indeed, given 

 a reasonable degree of respect for a work of art upon which the birds have lavished the 

 skill of ages, and a simple determination to land that structure in the museum with the 

 least possible disturbance of its natural relations, success is automatic and inevitable. 



For ordinary collecting one requires the following tools and materials: First and 

 foremost, tissue paper, — some very soft, and some as stiff as possible. The best quality 

 of bleached grass tissue (difficult to obtain just now) is none too good; second, a pocket- 

 ful of waste cotton; third, some string, a small ball of light wrapping twine preferred; 

 fourth, a marking pencil, If to this a pocket rule be added, you will be equipped to take 

 field measurements of dimensions, which are always preferable. For tools, I should put 

 first a sharp pocket knife, or better, a small pair of rose clippers — ladies' clippers pre- 

 ferred. These clippers are invaluable for trimming the setting of the nest to satisfac- 

 tion, and in clearing it of entangling twigs, vines, etc., so that it can be lifted clear with- 

 out injury. Next, you will need some kind of a small saw, a pocket saw, a "key-hole" 

 saw, or a Japanese tree saw. Third, if you are going after woodpeckers or chickadees — 

 and you are likely to run across something of this sort which needs investigating almost 

 anywhere — you will want a small pocket axe. Don't load down too heavily with this 

 article. I have a little axe that weighs fourteen ounces, and I wouldn't take as many 

 dollars for it. Lastly, if you like, provide yourself with a fish basket, or some sort of 

 a convenient hamper to carry nests and tools in. This is not essential. I never bother 

 with it myself. You can carry wrapped nests in your hand without particular incon- 

 venience or fatigue. As the "bag" increases, you can wrap several together, or tie them 

 in bundles with string, always taking care to leave a stout limb or base for a convenient 

 handle. 



This kit may sound ominous to the novice, but really it is not so at all. I carry my 

 entire outfit in the pockets of a huntingcoat, hand-axe, saw, clippers, cotton and all, and 

 grasp a good steel-shod "pike" (really an alpen-stock) in my band besides. A pike is 

 a good thing to interrogate tree-trunks, logs, and sundry fissures in cliffs. 



Now that we are equipped, let us tackle a sample nest. Shall it be a Black-headed 

 Grosbeak's, settled into a crotch of a young willow sapling? The first thing to do is to 

 remove the eggs. Then, having marked them and wrapped them, and packed them 

 securely in the collecting box, we are ready to collect the nest. First, write the name 



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