July, 1905 | 
NOTES AND NEWS 
15 
exchanges east and west, north and south. The 
exchange valuation is higher than cash valu- 
ation the latter averaging perhaps one-third 
lower, but it is impossible to make a fixed 
comparison as all exchangers will agree.” At 
the end is given a director}' of persons having 
collections and desiring to exchange. The 
catalogue should prove of great practical value 
to persons desiring to exchange nests and eggs. 
Frank H. Lattin and Ernest H. Short have 
recently issued “The Standard Catalogue of 
North American Birds' Eggs” (Fifth Edition, 
April 1905). This catalogue is also well known, 
the fourth edition having appeared in 1896. 
The present catalogue is printed on right hand 
page only, leaving the other for notes, and has 
a more durable cover than the last edition. We 
used to carry our copy in the field as a substi- 
tute for the bulky A. O. U. checklist and wore 
out several in this way. It is evident the pres- 
ent booklet will not so easily succumb to hard 
usage. 
Erratum — 111 May issue, page 83, bottom 
line but one, read: “Robins have been pres- 
ent in about half their usual numbers during 
the past winter.— Dr. R. F. Rooney.” This of 
course agrees with the other observations on 
the same page. 
A New Egg Blower.— The following 
blowing and water-cleaning device, costing 
about $1. 50, is the best of all. Bv using the 
blower gently you can blow the smallest eggs 
as well as the large ones. You can get the 
bulbs at any drug store. Credit for the device 
must be given my friend Mr. Eastgate. 
1. Common bulb syringe. Use as water 
cleaner. 2. Atomizer bulb. Note 
valve at base. '■?" Use as blow pipe 
by squeezing bulb. A. Glass 
tubing drawn out for nozzle B. 
Common egg blow-pipe. Note 
that both A and B are set in brads 
so that they will not turn or slip 
unawares. I have mine arranged 
so the pipes will slip out when 1 
am through with them. The board stands on 
an incline and is placed at such a height that I 
am seated during entire operation. Directly 
beneath A and B, I place a large open can into 
which the water and egg matter falls. F. 
Bail of soapy water. 
With the above apparatus you can blow eggs 
six times faster than with your mouth. The 
beauty of it all is that after filling the egg with 
water by means of the cleanser (as many times 
as you want to) you have another instrument 
that blows the egg perfectly dry. All small 
eggs should be held away from the nozzle in 
blowing and cleaning. It is also a good idea 
to cut lining around the drill hole with scalpel or 
other instrument before blowing. — W. L. Cov 
vin, Osazmtomie, A'a/isas. 
ssssB&smEmmmmmmsi 
We regret to announce the death of Walter FI. 
Bryant, honorary member of the Cooper Orni- 
thological Club, at the Waldeck Sanatorium, 
San Francisco, May 21. A notice of Mr. Bryant’s 
work will appear in a future issue. 
Minutes of Club Meetings 
NORTHERN DIVISION 
May.— Instead of holding the regular meet- 
ing May 6tli, it was held April 29th, in the 
Council Room of the California Academy of 
Sciences, San Francisco. There being no ex- 
ecutive officer present, H. R. Taylor was ap- 
pointed chairman, and the meeting was called 
to order at 8:30 P. M. H. B. Kaeding was ap- 
pointed secretary pro tew, and program was 
taken up. Mr. Taylor spoke on a recent visit 
of several Club members to the colony of great 
blue, and black-crowned night herons, at Red- 
wood City, after which he discussed the action 
of the Fish Commission in refusing to grant 
permits to egg collectors. The following reso- 
lutions were introduced by Mr. Taylor, and 
unanimously passed by the seventeen members 
present: 
Whereas, The Cooper Ornithological Club of Califor- 
nia, organized for the study of Oology, and Ornithology 
in all its branches, recognizes and asserts the coordinate 
importance ol Oology (the study of eggs and nests, and 
the working out of the life histories of North American 
birds), with systematic ornithology, as embracing the 
collection and comparison of bird skins in the further- 
ance of scientific investigation; and 
Whereas, We further recognize that the collection 
and study of nests and eggs by Californian collectors, has 
been, and is, a prime factor in the growth and stability 
of this Club, while adding much to the storehouse of 
knowledge, and lending most materially to give this 
Club the high standing it now enjoys among men of 
science, and scientific institutions of this country and 
abroad, as one of the most active associations of bird 
students in the United States; and 
Whereas, We regard any inhibition upon the scientific 
collecting of nests and eggs by our bird students as of 
serious detriment to scientific inquiry, and an infrac- 
tion of the rights of a large number of members of this 
