56 
FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 
nevertheless, the rest become '^suspicious/' and the whole drawer or box should be quaran- 
tined, if not submitted to any of the processes described beyond. Our lines of defence are sev- 
eral. We may mechanically oppose entrance of the enemy ; we may meet him with abhorrent 
odors that drive him off, sicken or kill him, and finally we may cook him to death. I will 
notice these methods successively, taking occasion to describe a cabinet under head of the first- 
Cases for Storage or Transportation should be rather small, for several reasons. They 
are easier to handle and pack. There are fewer birds pressing each other. Particular speci- 
mens are more readily reached. Bugs must effect just so many more separate entrances to 
infest the whole. Small lids are more readily fitted tight. For the ordinary run of small birds 
I should not desire a box over 18x18x18, and should prefer a smaller one ; for large birds, a box 
just long enough for the biggest specimen, and of other proportions to correspond fairly, is 
most eligible. Whatever the dimensions, a proper box presupposes perfect jointing ; but if 
any suspicion be entertained on this score, stout paper should be pasted along all the edges, 
both inside and out. We have practically to do with the lid only. If the lot is likely to 
remain long untouched, the cover may be screwed very close and the crack pasted like the 
others. Under other and usual circumstances the lid may be provided with a metal boss fitting 
a groove lined with India rubber or filled with wax. An excellent case may be made of tin 
with the lid secured in this manner, and further fortified with a wooden casing. Birdskins 
entirely free from insects or their eggs, encased in some such secure manner, will remain intact 
indefinitely ; but there is misery in store if any bugs or nits be put away with them. 
Cabinets. — As a matter of fact, most collections are kept readily accessible for examina- 
tion, display, or other immediate use, and this precludes any disposition of them in "henneti- 
cal'' cases. The most we can do is to secure tight fitting of movable woodwork. The 
''cabinet" is most eligible for private collections. This is, in effect, simply a bureau, or chest of 
drawers, protected with folding doors, or a front that may be detached, cither of plain wood or 
sashing for panes of glass. It is simply astonishing how many birdskins of average size can 
be accommodated in a cabinet that makes no inconvenient piece of furniture for an ordinary 
room. A cabinet may of course be of any desired size, shape, and style. In general it will be 
better to put money into excellence of fitting rather than elegance of finish ; the handsomest 
front does not compensate for a crack in the back or for a drawer that hitches. There should 
not be the slightest fiaw in the exterior, and doors should fit so tightly that a puff of air may 
be felt on closing them. The greatest desideratum of the interior work, next after close 
fitting yet smooth running of the drawers, is economy of space. This is secured by making 
the drawers as thin as is consistent with stability ] by having them slide by a boss at each end 
fitting a groove in the side wall, instead of resting on horizontal partitions ; and by hinged 
countersunk handles instead of knobs. I do not recommend, except for a suite of the smallest 
birds, a multiplicity of shallow drawers, acconnnodating each one layer of specimens it is 
better to have fewer deeper drawers, into which light shallow movable trays are fitted. These 
trays never need be of stuff over one-eighth or one-fourth of an inch thick, and may have 
bottoms of stiff pasteboard glued or tacked on. They may vary from one-half inch to two 
inches in depth, but this dimension should always be some factor of the depth of the drawer, 
so that a certain number of trays may exactly fill it. They should be just as long as one 
transverse dimension of the drax^^er, and rather narrow, so that two or more are set side by 
side. Finally, though they may be of different depths, they should be of the same length and 
breadth, so as to be interchangeable. They may simply rest on top of each other, or slide on 
separate projections inside the drawer. Such trays are extremely handy for holding particular 
sets of specimens, to be carried to the study table without disturbing the rest of the collection. 
If a collection be so extensive that any particular specimen may not be readily hunted up, 
