one ol the parents by shooting, snaring or trapping. But it sometimes, 
in practice, happens that this is found to be difficult from one cause 
or another, such as the wary instincts of the birds, or the necessities 
ol his position compelling the traveller to lose no time, or the scarcity 
of the species making him unwilling to destroy the individuals. In 
any of these cases there is nothing to be done but to make as careful 
an examination as circumstances will admit of the precise situation of 
the nest, the materials of which it is composed (supposing that the 
collector cannot bring it away with him), and accurately to survey 
the surrounding locality, to observe by what species it is frequented ; 
all the particulars of which examination and survey should be fully 
noted down at the earliest opportunity possible. Should, however, 
either or both the birds be killed, they should be skinned, or at least 
some characteristic part of each preserved,* and duly labelled to cor¬ 
respond with the inscriptions subsequently put on the eggs, and always 
with a reference to the collector's journal or note-book, wherein fuller 
details may be found. 
The Oologist is especially warned not to be misled by the mere fact 
of seeing birds around or near the nests. Many of the Crow family 
(Corvidce) are great eaters of eggs, and mistakes are known to have 
originated from birds of that kind being seen near nests of which they 
were certainly not the owners. Others, such as the Titmice [Paridce), 
though not plunderers, obtain their food by incessantly seeking it, 
even in the very localities where many species build. It often happens, 
also, that two different birds have their nests situated very close to 
one another ; and if they be allied species the collector may be easily 
deceived. Thus, it has come to the writer’s knowledge that the Dun¬ 
lin (Tringa alpina) and the Purple Sandpiper (Tringa maritima) have 
have had their nests only a few feet apart. At first a pair of the latter 
only were seen, which by their actions betrayed their uneasiness. A 
short search discovered a nest with four eggs. The observer was one 
of the best practical Oologists then living, and his eye at once saw 
that it was not the nest which he wanted ; but a less experienced man 
would doubtless have immediately concluded that he had found the 
eggs of the rarer species. Indeed it may, generally speaking, be said 
of most birds that whenever they have nests of their own they are 
* Birds may l>e preserved entire by simply pouring (through a small funnel) a few 
drops of pyroligneous acid down their throats, and saturating the feathers, especially 
about the vent, with the same fluid ; after leaving them to dry for an hour or so, they 
may be wrapped in paper and packed. This fact was kindly communicated to me by 
Mr. John Hancock, and I have since made successful trial of the plan. 
