COLLECTING BIBBS. 
451 
Collecting Birds. 
Birds can be collected in every locality, and throughout all seasons of the year, 
but during the spring and fall migrations species and individuals are much more 
numerous than at other periods. Many species occur here simply as summer resi¬ 
dents, others, which come southward on the approach of cold weather, stay with us 
only through the winter, consequently the collector who intends to make a com¬ 
plete collection of the avifauna of a particular region must be on the watch at all 
times. 
Assuming that you know, or will soon learn from experience, how to dress to 
protect yourself from cold and rain, or, on the other hand, attire yourself when out 
in midsummer’s heat, no .mention of these matters is deemed necessary in this 
section. Every ornithologist or oologist should know how to make a bird-skin. 
No student of ornithology or oology can successfully pursue his studies without a 
gun of some kind ; all guns are dangerous, and it is hardly necessary to remark that 
cheap second-grade guns are particularly so. When you buy a gun, purchase the 
very best one your pocket-book will allow. If you cannot afford to get a good 
double-barreled, breech-loading shot-gun, buy a No. 1 single breech-loader. For 
general collecting a 12-gauge double-barrel shot-gun is generally recommended, I 
prefer, however, a double-barreled 16-gauge, as it is lighter, and, I think, equally 
as effective. Brass shells can be re-loaded many times, consequently they are cheaper 
than paper cartridges, although more troublesome than the latter. If economy is 
an object procure twenty-five or fifty brass shells, which should be loaded with 
different sizes of shot; in case you wish to shoot small birds load with small shot 
(mustard-seed or dust) and use light charges of both powder and shot. I will not 
attempt to lay down any rules for loading cartridges as every man who has a gun 
will, by practice, soon learn how to load for the game he desires to secure. When 
collecting birds for the cabinet you must avoid, as much as possible, shooting them 
badly; experience, however, will soon teach the collector that a specimen killed 
with a few pellets of shot is infinitely better than one which is mangled and cut up 
by a heavy charge. Always avoid an over-load of shot, and when collecting speci¬ 
mens don’t use larger sized shot than is absolutely necessary. 
An auxiliary barrel * of 22, 32 or 38 calibre with fifty brass shells and loading tools 
can be purchased from dealers in sportmen’s supplies, at an outlay of from three to 
five dollars. The auxiliary barrel is an exceedingly valuable addition to the field- 
worker’s outfit. With this he can shoot small birds ranging in size from a robin to 
a hummingbird, and use such small loads that the specimens will be but slightly 
injured. A very effective charge of American wood powder in a 32 or 38 shell 
makes but little noise. In fact the comparatively noiseless work which can be done 
with one of these auxiliary barrels sometimes leads some collectors, who have but 
little regard for human laws prohibiting Sunday shooting, and apparently much 
less for their soul’s salvation, to use it as a “ Sunday gun.” 
Although specimens can be wrapped in paper and carried in the pockets of a coat, 
a good-sized fish basket (one made of canvas which can be folded is preferable to the 
willow basket), costing from $1.50 to $2.00, and hung over the shoulder is the best 
and most convenient way to carry small birds. Large birds like cranes, eagles, 
geese, swans, etc., are troublesome to carry, and great care needs to be taken to pre¬ 
vent their wings and tails from being injured. Such specimens can be carried by 
the legs, or if it is out of the question to transport them in that way wrap them in 
paper, after plugging throat, mouth, nostrils, vent and shot holes, and swing them 
by a cord or strap over your shoulder, f 
Provide yourself with a note book in which to record (in ink) all items of your 
daily observations in the field, and always carry with you plenty of cotton, a large 
* A metal tube, five to eight inches long, which fits in the gun-barrel same as a cartridge. 
t When several large birds are taken and they cannot conveniently be carried, as just mentioned, it is 
well to lessen the weight of your burden by skinning out the bodies, but leave wings, legs and heads 
without being skinned. Never neglect, however, when treating birds in this manner to note sex and 
contents of crop and stomach of each specimen. 
