The IIawkeve Ornithologist and Ooi.ogist. 



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SUGGESTIONS FOR PROPERLY 



FORMING COLLECTIONS OF 



BIRDS' EGGS. 



Indeed it may, generally speaking, 

 be said of most birds, that whenever 

 they haveinests of their own they are 

 acquainted with those of their neigh- 

 bors, which by their actions they will 

 often betray to the collector who 

 may be patiently, watching them. 

 Birds, again, will occasionally lay 

 their eggs— accidentally, as it were — 

 in the nests of other species, even 

 when they were not of a parasitic na- 

 ture, as the Old World cuckoos (C'mc- 

 uhis, Eudyamis and Oxyiophux.) or 

 the cow blackbird (Molothvus ater;) 

 thus eggs of the eider duck (Soma- 

 teria mollissima) have been found in 

 the nest of a gull (Lavas) and other 

 similar cases are on record in some of 

 which from the species being nearly 

 allied, confusion might easily have 

 arisen, though at the time, no doubt 

 may have occurred in the collector's 

 mind. 



' It would be impossible in this pa- 

 per to treat of the various methods 

 which may be successfully employed 

 to obtain the birds, to whom a nest 

 belongs, and, in fact, these methods 

 can generally be learned only by ex- 

 perience. It is sufficient to indicate 

 here the use of traps, snares, hingles 

 or bird-lime, in cases where the indi- 

 viduals are too shy to admit of being 

 shot by the gun or rifle. Much may 

 often be gathered by the collector 

 from the practice of the natives, es- 

 pecially if they be savages, or half 

 civilized. In like manner it would 

 too much extend these suggestions to 

 give a detailed accsunt of the different 

 ways in which the nests of birds are 



to be found. The experience of a 

 single season is to most men worth a 

 whole volume that might be written 

 on the subject. Nevei'theless, a few 

 hints are given further on, which 

 might not occur to the beginner. 



AUTHENTICATION. 



The most complete method of au- 

 thenticating eggs is that of writing 

 in ink on their shells, not only the 

 name of the species to which each 

 belongs, but also, as far as the space 

 will admit, as many particulars re- 

 lating to the amount of identification 

 to which the specimen was subjected, 

 the locality where, date when, and 

 the name of the person by vhom 

 they were taken, adding always a 

 reference to the Journal or note-book 

 of the collector, wherein fuller d' tails 

 may be given. It is advisable to do 

 this on some regular system, and the 

 following method is suggested as one 

 that has already been found to work 

 well in practice. The scieitiijic.na.iues 

 only to be used, except- with a mark 

 of doubt or within brackets, when 

 the specimens have real!:/ been, satis- 

 factorily identified; and if the identi- 

 fication has been made by obtaining 

 one or both of the parent birds, a 

 memorandum of the fact to be added, 

 thus: "Both birds snared;" '•Bird- 

 shot;'' or in smaller space, "Bel. st." 

 [to be continued.] 



ANIMALS AS TEACHERS. 



SELECTED. 



How much we are indebted to the 

 lower animals'. Some of them labor 

 for us. Some furnish us food, cloth- 

 ing and shoes. Bees make honey for 

 us, and silk- worms give us the most 

 beautiful garments. Various insects 

 carry pollen from plant to plant, 

 which, without this cross fertilization, 

 would not produce seed and fruit. 

 Even earthworms, as Darwin has in- 

 formed us, are very useful as drainers 

 and plowers of the soil. 



But animals also teach us mechan- 



