THE OOLOGIST 



9U 



birds. It seems a strange anomaly to 

 see Pelicans here, sailing above the 

 live oaks and foot hills, but it's an in- 

 spiring sight to see them start milling 

 when they reach the snow clad ranges 

 above us, and climb in long spirals up 

 and up till they reach the height de- 

 sired and stream out to the north 

 again like broken wisps of cloud. I'm 

 afraid my Alaska trip is off. I can't 

 see any way to make it under present 

 war conditions, although I'd give up al- 

 most anything for the chance. One 

 trip like that would furnish memories 

 for a life time, but I guess it's only 

 another bursted bubble of dreams. I'd 

 like to be back in old Illinois for a 

 month or so. Spring time is so beauti- 

 ful there. I know where the blue bells 

 blossom, and the dark covered hill- 

 sides where the quaint Dutchman's 

 Breeches grow and the wonderful 

 Cardinal flower; there's no blossom so 

 red in all of sunny California. I sup- 

 pose the rivers are at flood tide now. 

 I used to canoe when the yellow 

 waters of the Sangamon and the 

 Illinois over spread the low lands and 

 many a time I've paddled where the 

 husks of last year's corn stalks stuck 

 above the rolling waters. 



H. Arden Edwards, 

 Claremont, Calif. 



OOLOGICAL HINTS 



No doubt many who have tried to 

 mark their eggs with ink have given 

 it up as a bad job and have gone back 

 to the time-tried H. B. Pencil. Hav- 

 ing had considerable experience as a 

 draftsman, I beg to offer the following 

 suggestions, which will lead to suc- 

 cess, provided of course, the reader 

 has a steady hand and can make neat 

 and small figures. 



First, the surface of the shell, where 

 the marks are to be placed, should 

 have all grease removed so that it will 

 take the ink readily. To do this pro- 



vide yourself with a can of "Pounce" 

 or other brand of tracing cloth pow- 

 der. This can be bought for twenty- 

 five cents of any dealer in drawing 

 materials. Rub it on the shell lightly 

 with a bit of soft cloth and no trouble 

 with grease will be experienced. Next, 

 you must have the proper kind of ink; 

 it must be thin as well as jet black. 

 Higgins "Eternal" ink fills the speci- 

 fications and will never fade out. The 

 so called Waterproof (India) drawing- 

 ink is too thick, besides it will wipe 

 off just as easily as any other. Third, 

 you must provide yourself with a pen 

 point which will make a very fine line 

 and which has flexible points. The 

 best I have found is Kueffel and 

 Esser's 3202, which can be ordered 

 through the dealer from whom you 

 purchased the Pounce. Gillot's 170 is 

 also a good pen with even finer points. 

 Gillott's 303 is too stiff, likewise most 

 of the crow-quill pens so easily pro- 

 cured. 



The size of figures I use for small 

 eggs is less than one-sixteenth inches 

 in height and there is no need of their 

 being much larger for large eggs. I 

 mark all my specimens with a frac- 

 tion, the numerator of which is the 

 number of the set of this particular 

 species; the denominator is the num- 

 ber of eggs in the set. This fraction is 

 placed on one side of the hole and on 

 the opposite side is placed the A. O. 

 U. number. Marks should run from 

 butt toward point, so as not to 

 show around the sides when the speci- 

 mens are in the case. It is well to let 

 the numerator mentioned above, begin 

 with 20 or 30 as the first of the series. 

 The reason of this is because the num- 

 bers 1, 2, 3, etc., have been used so 

 much that there are countless num- 

 bers of sets already in existence bear- 

 ing these marks. 



Another wrinkle which I have found 

 of great convenience is a blowpipe 



