Instructions for Collecting and Preserving Birds and Eggs.
BY PROF. J. A. SINGLEY, GIDDINGS, TEXAS.
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Each of the three eggs should be marked No. 10. By this method, the first number always representing the number of the set, the second the number of the species and the third the number of eggs in the set, mistakes are almost impossible. If he saw the bird he should write “seen” after the last item. If the bird was caught or shot, he can mention it instead of “seen.” The last two items explain themselves, and all these items except the first, must enter into the data of the set. It is not necessary to give materials of nest, except in the case of rare species. I follow the above method of authenticating, to save time; but the collector who has plenty of that commodity to spare, can of course write out full particulars of each set in the field. Never trust to memory in these matters, have it in black and white.
The collector, having returned home and being ready to prepare his eggs, let him take them out of his box where he has placed them well wrapped in cotton, as taken, and unwrapping them, place each set by itself on the “dryer” described elsewhere (he will now begin to appreciate that useful article,) now getting his tools, not forgetting a glass of water to use in rinsing the eggs, he is ready to go to work.
The points of the drills, as bought, are always dull, and it is recommended to start the hole in the egg with a pin or needle. These useful articles are small, likely to get lost while working with, and make one more article to look after. You can dispense with them by carefully filing the point of your drill to a needle-like point. Select the least showy part of the egg, and holding it (the egg) in your left hand (the right if you are left-handed) put the point of the drill against this “least showy part,” and twirl it (the drill) between the thumb and forefinger. Don’t bear on the drill, as if you were drilling in iron, if you do you’ll have a hole clear through both sides of the egg, something you don’t want. The hole, being drilled until the largest circumference of the burr passes inside of the egg, don’t try to pull it out, as a broken egg will be the result if you do. There is an internal pellicle lining the egg: if this is not cut out where the hole is drilled, it will interfere with blowing the egg. By bringing the burr of the drill up against this pellicle, as if you were going to remove it from the egg, and giving the same twirling motion that you did when drilling, the pellicle will be cut all around the edges of the hole, and the drill will come out. Now take your blow-pipe, and putting the point of it close to the hole, blow gently and the contents will come out. When incubation is more or less advanced, a larger hole must be drilled, and the embryo removed with the hook and scissors, a tedious operation and not always successful even with the greatest of care. Better let incubated eggs remain in the nest. A little experience will teach you how to differentiate fresh eggs from those that are too far advanced to save.
Never put the point of the blow-pipe inside of the egg, as a bursted egg will be the result, especially so, if your lungs are well developed. Having emptied the egg of its contents, the next step is to take a mouthful of water and inject it through the blow-pipe into the egg, rinsing it thoroughly. Large eggs should be filled half full of water and well shaken. Eggs treated in this manner are perfectly clean inside and offer no inducements to insects to harbor within, a thing that they will surely do in eggs prepared in a slovenly manner. Having blown all the water out of the egg, take a soft cloth and wipe it dry, removing any foreign matter that may be adhering to it, taking care, however, not to rub off the number you put on it when collected, and also notice that you do not rub off any of the markings on it. On some eggs the pigment is only loosely applied on the outside. Now place the egg, hole downwards, directly over one of the holes on your dryer, and it will drain and dry in a few hours; continue in this way until you clean all your eggs, keeping each set to itself and adding another memorandum in your note-book opposite each set, as to the state of incubation of that set. When the eggs are dry, fill out a data for each set. These particulars are taken from your note-book. Suppose he (the collector) takes the first set, that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. He will fill out a blank as follows:
No. 375. Name, Red-headed Woodpecker.
Collector, John Smith.
Locality, Boston, Mass.
Date, June 3d, 1887.
Set mark, 1/4.
Number of eggs in set, 4. Identity, bird seen.
Nest, excavated in an elm tree, 20 feet up; eggs laid on chips on bottom of cavity.
The collector will of course substitute his own name, locality and date, for those given above, and if this should prove to be the second, third or fourth set of that species taken during the season, he would mark the set as 2-4, 3-4, 4-4 and so on.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)