NESTS AND EGGS. 
remain till the young fledglings have left it on their own 
independent career. 
A collector can rarely pick up, with his own hands, any large 
proportion of even a small collection. “ How many, for example,” 
asks Mr. Macgillivray, “ have robbed the eagle’s or the osprey’s, 
or scaled the magpie’s nest, or laid their grasping hand on the 
eggs of the raven (which command half-a-crown apiece among the 
London dealers), or even the hooded crow or the chough ? Never- 
theless, let him who can, search for himself, otherwise he will miss 
much knowledge.” It is told of the Abbe Manesse, who ren- 
dered great service to science by his observations on birds and 
eggs, and their manner of laying, that the whole of his superb 
collection was collected by himself; he confided in no one, 
and added no egg to his collection which he had not verified with 
his own eyes. His practice was to prepare himself for climbing 
by putting two spikes on his boots, and encircling the tree as 
well as his Own body with a strong girth, and with this 
apparatus, when he was far on the shady side of forty, did 
the good abbe scale the loftiest tree that magpie, or rook, or 
wood-pigeon, chose for its castle. One of his rules was, to 
admit no nest or egg into his collection until he saw the bird 
in or flying out of the nest, thus identifying the species. His 
home career was cut short by the French "Revolution, but, as an 
emigrant, he took every opportunity of enlarging his collection, 
which became the most perfect in Europe, and was presented, 
with his MSS. and drawings, in 1817, to the French Institute. 
The egg collector must pursue his task under many difficul- 
ties. In robbing the nest situated on lofty trees he will proba- 
bly have to descend with the treasure in his mouth, for the 
fewer incumbrances he ascends with the better. On reaching the 
ground the eggs should be carefully marked, and placed in one of 
the tin boxes he should carry in a bag. In order to preserve 
them, drill a hole near each end with a triangular needle, twirling 
the needle gently between the finger and thumb ; then apply 
the mouth to one of the holes, and blow out the contents at the 
other, washing it afterwards with a solution of gum and water, 
gently injected from a syringe ; this gives strength and solidity 
to the shell, and preserves the membrane ; the holes may after- 
wards be filled with wax or covered with thin paper, but no 
gumming, varnishing, nor washing outside. When thus pre- 
pared, and perfectly dry, the eggs may be fixed upon pieces 
of cork, or, better still, in small boxes, just large enough to 
contain them, having glass tops, or they may be kept in 
29!) 
