ioo 



THE OOLOGIST 



holder. We have all experienced "lip 

 fatigue" due to blowing for hours 

 through a small blow pipe compressed 

 firmly between the lips. Take a piece 

 of red rubber pencil eraser and taper 

 it off on each end to a feather edge, so 

 that it will fit the space between the 

 lips when partly open. Then with a 

 pen knife, drill and cut a hole through 

 it so that the blowpipe can be insert- 

 ed, point first, and then draw the 

 "shield" back to the butt end. This 

 will put an end to the trouble men- 

 tioned. 



I am not an advocate of "needle 

 holes" through which to blow eggs, 

 even if fresh. This practice is apt to 

 lead to a lot of unclean specimens to 

 which most of us would prefer a clean 

 shell with larger hole. Too much em- 

 phasis cannot be laid on proper rins- 

 ing, the water should be blown in at 

 least one more time after it has come 

 out clean. Lays eggs hole down on 

 blotter, after rinsing and when you 

 have done the batch, go back over 

 them and blow out the few drops of 

 water which have settled due to burst- 

 ing bubbles inside. The shell should 

 be dry inside and out before marking 

 with ink; in the meantime a slip of 

 paper showing the set and mark may 

 be placed with the eggs. 



In the incubated eggs the vein 

 streaked membrane clings tenaciously 

 to the inside of the shell and some- 

 times cannot be blown out. A bristle 

 from a clothes brush, inserted through 

 the hole and "poked" around inside 

 will invariably loosen it. 



Not infrequently it happens that we 

 are unable to prepare our eggs for sev- 

 eral days after collecting them. In this 

 case, provide yourself with cigar boxes 

 partly filled with sawdust and store 

 your eggs point down. Failure to 

 place them in this position will result 

 in the yolk settling and sticking to the 

 side from which it is impossible to 



entirely remove it. Produce men al- 

 ways store hen eggs point down for 

 the reason that the air cell in the end 

 keeps the yolk from the shell. 



In sending out exchange lists it is 

 only fair to state which sets are per- 

 sonally collected. I always value a 

 first hand set from a reliable collector 

 more than I do one which has "gone 

 the rounds." 



The A. O. U. numbers are well 

 enough to use in the exchange ads but- 

 what a lot of time could be saved at 

 each end of the line if the common 

 names were used in corresponding. 

 And in speaking of names, do not fail 

 to put the Latin as well as the com- 

 mon names on your datas. No one 

 but the original collector has the right 

 to do this. 



Finally, in regard to standard size 

 for datas. At present there are as 

 many sizes almost as collectors, but 

 there is a very good reason for mak- 

 ing them 3x5 inches. This size has 

 been adopted as a standard card index 

 size the country over and any 

 stationer will sell you card storage 

 cases or cabinets to fit. You can also 

 get index cards ready printed with 

 years, months, numbers or letters, in 

 this size, for a few cents a set. In 

 addition to your datas you may have 

 other card information and field notes 

 to store uniformly with them. For the 

 purpose, 3x5 blank cards can be pur- 

 chased from any stationer. I prefer a 

 good quality of stiff or ledger lines 

 paper to the bristol board favored by 

 some. They are less apt to break and 

 besides many collectors make a prac- 

 tice of folding their datas and keep- 

 ing under the egg trays. 



A. F. Gamer, 

 Nashville, Tenn. 



"For eight months I have been a 

 reader of the Oologist and certainly 

 enjoy it." 



Ben J. Blincoe. 



