l^Jie jYaturaJii' 
ogg ns we enn tVoiii n set, let lis by all 
lueaiis eolleet single eggs. 
I'hose who eolleet eggs simply as eii- 
riosities would do nuiiikind and the 
birds a favor by turning their atten¬ 
tion to stamps, tags or something else 
that would eause no suifering to any 
kind of harmless ofbenetieial ereatures. 
if sueh persons eannot be made to de¬ 
sist by gentle means, laws should be 
(iiiaeted by whiehtheyean be punished. 
As 1 am, in all senses of the word, a 
“young oologist,” I should be pleased 
to know if there are an}' of the older 
ones who endorse my i)ians. If so, let 
ns hear from them through the Oo'ogist. 
Yours fraternally, 
F. M. Patteuson, 
Fort jMadison, la. 
The Proper Sizes of Shot. 
BY FRED C. DUSK, HOEEP^Y, N. Y. 
Seeing your warning in the last Com¬ 
panion, “Don’t use too course shot,” 
led me to write this, thinking it would 
be of interest to some of your man}' 
readers. I use for all specimens from 
the little hummer up to the size of the 
wax wing, dust shot, that is. No. 1(5, us¬ 
ing three drams powder, and one half 
ounce shot. In using this size, it being 
so small, the ^YOlmd closes and but lit¬ 
tle, if any, blood hows, and consequent¬ 
ly you have a clean bird to w'ork on. 
llow often it is that we have birds 
})rought to us to be mounted that are so 
badly damaged by shot, that it is twice 
the work it ought to be for the price 
we get for doing it. 
Fight here 1 will tell other collectors 
my experience with bird’s after being- 
shot, that is, how to carry them safely, 
cleanly and separately. I use tin 
cones of dilferent sizes, being left a lit- 
tY Conijja u ion. oo 
tie o[)en at the bottom, and drop the 
bird head down into it. I use no cot¬ 
ton in the throat, the small hole at the 
l)oint of the cone lets out any blood or 
juices from the stomach, and the cone 
also keeps all feathers straight and 
smooth, which is a great help, as all 
taxidermists know. This is my plan, 
and I would be pleased to hear from 
other collectors as to their methods, 
through this magazine. 
An Archaeologist’s Discovery. 
llalbherr, the arclueologist, wdio is 
at work in Crete for the Italian govern¬ 
ment, has found a numbei’ of votive of¬ 
ferings in bronze and clay in a cavern 
w'hich is called after Jupiter, because 
he is supposed to have been born there¬ 
in. Remains of half-burned ox and 
goat horns, bronze knives, and arrow¬ 
heads indicate that there was some 
sort of worship on the spot. There is 
an outer and an inner cavern with 
stalactites, stalagmites and a beautiful 
little river. 
Eggs of the Summer Redbird in 
a Mockingbird’s Nest. 
BY W. W. WESTG.VTE, HOUSTON, TEX.VS. 
Some time ago, while out collecting, 
I saw a juale Summer Redbird in a tree 
near by. Tlxperience had taught me 
that during the breeding season they 
never strayed far from their nests, so 
I at once started to find the nest. It 
-was a long, tiresome undertaking, but 
the bird was an available monitor that 
every time told me when going Avrong; 
when I went in one direction the bird 
ceased its crys, but when I turned, it 
commenc(id with renewed force. At 
last, after a hunt of about half an 
hour, I found the nest,some lifty yards 
