62 



THE OOLOGIST 



will be found a vast improvement up- 

 on the use of shot. 



Removing the contents of an egg 

 that is so nearly hatched that it is 

 just short of being "pipped" is, I rather 

 think, a rock upon which nearly all of 

 us have foundered at times. I always 

 test one egg from a nest if I am in the 

 smallest doubt as to the stage of in- 

 cubation, pricking a small hole with a 

 pin where I should drill and testing 

 the solidity of the contents with a 

 grass stem. It is better to spoil one 

 egg from a set in this way than to 

 take the whole set home and then 

 have to throw it away. It is unworthy 

 of a true oologist for him to take a 

 very hard set egg unless the species 

 is so rare that he is unlikely to find 

 another set. This rule should be ap- 

 plied only to small eggs, because the 

 size of Quail eggs, or larger, can be 

 safely prepared if the collector is able 

 and willing to take plenty of time. 

 In preparing eggs in this condition I 

 have tried many advocated chemicals 

 with more or less success (generally 

 less), but have discarded them all for 

 the following very simple plan. Do 

 not drill the eggs at all, but set them 

 aside where they will not get broken 

 and leave them for at least two weeks. 

 They should be turned every day in 

 order that the contents may not ad- 

 here to the shell. By the end of two 

 weeks, or more, drill the hole and the 

 contents should become so softened 

 that quite a little may be blown out, 

 then fill the egg with water and set it 

 aside for a day, continuing this treat- 

 ment until the contents have been en- 

 tirely removed. This method sounds 

 much more tedious than it really is, 

 and with the use of an embryo hook 

 I have prepared with small holes eggs 

 containing well feathered young of 

 such species as Mountain Quail, An- 

 cient Murrelet, Peal's Falcon, etc. 

 Heavily marked eggs, such as the fal- 

 cons, can be badly discolored by using 



chemicals for dissolving the embryo, 

 which fact I learned on a set of Spar- 

 row Hawk. Be sure to let the con- 

 tents get thoroughly softened before 

 trying to remove the harder parts. If 

 you are on a camping trip pack the 

 eggs carefully and do not attempt to 

 blow them until you get home. It will 

 not hurt them if you do not look at 

 them again for a month, as they will 

 get turned sufficiently by the shifting 

 of the camp equipment. 



Well, I will stop now and give some 

 other fellow a chance. 



News Fop Bird Hunters. 



Bloomington, 111., Feb. 18. — [Special] 

 — P. F. Flanagan, deputy game warden 

 for central Illinois, received advices 

 today that federal authorities had de- 

 cided not to enforce the migratory 

 game bird law, conflicting, as it does, 

 with the Illinois statute, and that 

 hunters may shoot water fowl this 

 spring, the same as in years prior to 

 the adoption of the federal statute. 



The foregoing telegram appeared in 

 one of the metropolitan Chicago dail- 

 ies and is illustrative of the condition 

 of law in the State of Illinois. Is it 

 any wonder that the general public is 

 getting disgusted with the law-making 

 and law-enforcing officials throughout 

 the land? The failure to enforce this 

 Federal Statute would be an encour- 

 agement to every illicit seller of liquor, 

 counterfeiter, post office burglar, and 

 violator of the Mann Act to continue 

 violating Federal Law. It does seem 

 that sometime, somewhere, some per- 

 son should be placed in office who has 

 the ability and the nerve to enforce 

 the law as he finds it, and who is not 

 always either looking for graft or en- 

 deavoring to find a loophole through 

 which he may avoid doing what it is 

 his duty to do. The decision of the 

 Federal authorities above referred to 

 is an outrage and a disgrace. 



