30 (‘OIILICC'WNG NESTS AND EGGS. 
     
    
   
   
    
     eggs of our birds alone and mnlisturbed. They have too many ene- 
     
     mies to contend with, without adding the average egg collector to the 
     
     number. The mere accumulation of specimens is the least, important 
     
     object of the true oiilogist. llis principal aim should be to make care- 
     
     ful observations on the habits, call notes, song, the character of the 
     
     food, mode and length of incubation, and the actions of the species 
     
     generally, from the beginning of the mating season to the time the 
     
     young are able to leave the nest. This period comprises the most in- 
     
     teresting and instructive part of the life-history of our birds." Very 
     
     heartily do I indorse every word of this, and to the concluding sen- 
     
     tence I would add: and there can be no better way to avoid increasing 
     
     our knowledge of a. bird’s domestic life than to rob it of its eggs, and 
     
     destroy its home and our own opportunities at the same time. Studied 
     
     from a local standpoint,l cont‘e ' I can see only two points of interest 
     
     in a bird's egg—one is what the egg is in, the other is what is in the 
     
     egg. 
     
    

    
     Nevertheless, I can understand the pleasure attending the legiti— 
     
     mate formation of what (‘aptain lieudire calls “ a small, thoroughly 
     
     identified, well-prepared. and neatly cared for collection," which, as 
     
     the same author adds, is worth far more scientifically and in every 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     other way than a more extensive one gained by exchange or purchase.” 
     
    

    
     An eggazolleetor‘s outfit, consists of several drills. an embryo-hook, 
     
     a blowpipe, forceps, and scissors. A fresh egg should be blown 
     
     through a hole slightly larger than the tip of the blowpipe. Drill 
     
     the hole in the side of the egg, and. after inserting the blowpipe about 
     
     one sixteenth of an int-h. blow gently and steadily until the contents 
     
     have been removed. Then rinse the egg thoroughly with wate‘ and 
     
     lay it hole downward on corn-meal to drain. 
     
    

    
     In eggs containing embryos it is necessary to make a hole large 
     
     enough to permit of the use of the embryo-hook, scissors, or forceps, 
     
     as the case may be. 
     
    

    
     Each egg should be marked with the number of the species in the 
     
     Check List of the American Ornithologists’ Union. the number of the 
     
     set in your collect ion. and the number of eggs in the set. Thus, if I 
     
     were going to label my second set of four eggs of the Bluebird. I should 
     
     write with a lead pencil on each egg. near the hole, 760%. 
     
    

    
     There are many ways of displaying collections of eggs. Some col— 
     
     leetors place their eggs in little boxes or partitions filled witl| sawdust. 
     
     or cotton; (‘aptain Bendire uses small pasteboard trays linetb ltottom 
     
     and sides. with cotton wadding. and divided into partitions [{‘1‘ each 
     
     egg by strips of cotton \\’adding set on edge. It is. howt-wr, very 
     
     largel ' a matter of taste, and collectors generally have their own ideas 
     
     on these matters.