COLLECTING AND PRESERVING EGGS. 225 



treated in this manner makes a most beautiful object, coming 

 out purple, witb streaks of lighter blue and pearl. 



Stones, such as agates, wbich. are found on the sea beacb, or 

 any stone wbicb is required to be polished, is to be first ground 

 down to a rough surface, then polished by successive rubbings of 

 first, second, and third grit- stones of different degrees of fineness, 

 lastly "Water- Ayr" or " Snake-stone," and finished with "putty 

 powder " applied with oil. All of the stones or grits mentioned 

 are to be procured at the marble mason's at a low rate. Serpen- 

 tine treated in this manner makes a very beautiful object. 



Eggs, Collecting and Preserving. — Eggs of various birds 

 may be sought for in their seasons in the 

 localities best suited to the several species. ^ 



But so much depends upon special training or 

 aptitude in the collecting of birds' eggs, that 

 a detailed description of localities where to seek, 

 and how to find, eggs, is hardly necessary, in the 

 pages of this work, further than to remark that a 

 pair of " climbing irons " are requisite for those 

 individuals who do not possess the agility of a 

 cat or of a schoolboy. 



Climhing Irons (see Eig. 37), to fit the foot and 

 leg, are best made of wrought iron with a welding 

 of finely- tempered steel from C to DE, to form 

 the claw used when climbing. To affix them to 

 the leg, the foot is placed as in a stirrup from C 

 to B, the claw ED pointing invvrard. A strap „ o^ r^ 

 should now be passed through a slot or square ing Ieon. 

 hole punched in the metal between C and D 

 (not shown in the figure), and laced under and across the foot 

 to and through the loop shown between B and A at a, thus 

 keeping the foot itself tightly fixed. Another strap passes 

 through the loop at the top where marked A, and is strapped 

 round the calf of the leg, keeping all below the knee rigid and 

 secure. "When climbing, the hands clasp the tree in the usual 

 manner, and the side of the foot is struck smartly against the 

 trunk, to cause the claw to penetrate. The climber now rests 

 on this, and strikes the claw of the other iron in, on the other 

 side, higher up, and so on alternately. 



