78 BIRDS'-NESTING. 



nearest possible approach to Nature's grouping, is 

 utterly foreign to the true purpose of our collection. 

 As your eggs will be of all sorts from the very be- 

 ginning, each drawer almost at first will contain a 

 few, according to their place in the list ; and your 

 pleasure and aim will be to fill up the gaps by new 

 accessions. 



mr. salvin!s improvements. 



The interior arrangement of the drawers is impor- 

 tant, and the beginner, if left to his omti ingenuity, 

 will make many trials before arriving at a satisfactory 

 method. Some oologists spread fine sand all over 

 the bottom of the drawer, and half sink the eggs in 

 this, or use sawdust or cedar shavings for the same 

 purpose, the cedar chips being recommended by the 

 useful quality of their aroma, which, while delightful 

 to us, is highly obnoxious to the very insects the 

 collector dreads and wishes to keep strictly away. 

 Others divide the bottom of the drawer into sections 

 by fixed partitions, and pad the sections with cotton 

 or sawdust, or by a general carpet of Canton flannel 

 (fuzzy side up) , laid down before the partitions are 

 put in. Mr. Osbert Salvin, of England, has invented 

 a plan which was explained in HardwicJce's /Science 

 Gossip for 1872, page 75, and is highly recom- 

 mended. 



