6 ORNITHOLOGICAL AND OOLOOICAL COLLECTING. 



In our Plate are figured the various instruments used in the collecting and pre- 

 paration of birds' eggs. The egg drills are made with octagon handles six inches 

 long, as represented by Fig. 1, in Plate 1. The sizes of the burrs, as will be seen in 

 Figs. 1 to 6, range from 3-32 inch to 16-32 inch. The following is a list of the es- 

 sential oological instruments, with their prices: 



Eg-g drill No. 1, 3-32 inch burr $0 25 



2, 5-32 " •■ 35 



3, 6-32 " " 060 



4, 8-32 " " 075 



5,12-32 ■■ " 100 



6,16-32 " " 150 



" 1016, common, short 20 



Blow-pipe 25 



Climbing irons , 3 50 



Embryo hools 25 



Embryo scissors $0 25 to 1 50 



Spring forceps, fine 75 to 1 25 



If you are just beginning to make a collection of eggs, two or three drills are all 

 that are necessary for ordinary purposes, Nos. 1, 3 and 5 being the most desirable 

 sizes. If you are to make an extensive collecting trip to remote regions, the entire 

 outfit enumerated above should be taken with you. 



The style of arrangement for mounting birds' nestg by the late Maj. Bendire is 

 illustrated in Fig. 9 of our Plate. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE SKINNING AND MAKING UP OF BIRD SKINS. 



The following is taken almost entirely from the writer's "Methods in the Art 

 of Taxidermy." . 



In this chapter I propose to tell you how to skin birds and to make them into a 

 shapely form. With the assistance of the illustrations each procedure will be so 

 clearly depicted that the student will, I believe, about as readily understand the 

 system of work as though he_ were to see the actual operations performed on the 

 bench. For our first attempt we shall try the American Robin Merula migratoni,\ 

 (Linn.), and I care not if it be Mr. Ridgway's "Western representative, Merula mi- 

 propinqua— it's a robin just the same. All the principles of skinning th» 

 robin will be given, while all the variations and exceptions in the skinning of other 

 birds form the size of a hummingbird and upwards Vill be found chiefly in foot-notes. 

 It will, therefore, make very little difference what kind of a bird you may have in 

 hand to work upon. , 



Before we begin operations however, you will doubtless want to know how to 

 "cure" or preserve the skin of a bird — the materials used. They are, in fact, very 



