Various

“ We soon cross another stream which runs over Beezley Falls and down through another fairy gorge called Crina Bottom, which is similar to the one we have just traversed, with numerous cascades, and where more water ouzels, wagtails and redpolls breed; but we have not time to stay here, wishing to get on to the moors to find some plover’s eggs.
Crossing some fields we find a nest of the skylark with four eggs. The mate is soaring high in the air and pouring out his joyous strains ”

“ The graceful yet powerful pose of this bird and the magnificent sweep of its wings show clearly how great a libel upon the bird of freedom is the atrocious figure that attempts to soar over the bundle of sticks on the back of the buzzard dollars of the present day. If the government will send an artist to Trenton it can obtain a model from which it can make a dollar that will not bring the blush of shame to the cheek of every American who has to spend it. ”

“ Shells are not easily broken, are much handsomer than eggs; and, best of all, a shell always carries its name about with it, while you must take your correspondent’s word for the egg. And tho’ some oologists profess to be able to identify a species by the egg alone, I am bound to say that after several years of professional collecting in oology, that in the majority of cases a species can not be determined from the eggs.
The first thing a collector thinks of when a species of any kind is obtained is the identifying or determination. ”

“ Collector is meant one who is suddenly seized with the idea that he is deeply interested in oology, and must get together a collection of eggs as soon as possible. Some are inspired by reading oological papers, others become interested by associating with those who are at the height of excitement.
A great many persons are seized with a greater or less desire to collect stamps, coins, etc. These can be identified at any time, but eggs cannot.
A true oologist collects with a scientific purpose, actuated by a true love of nature, and an egg is of no value to him unless its identity is certain. ”

“ Three other species of owls nest in this district: the barn owl, the tawny owl and the long-eared owl.
The latter generally selects some old crow or magpie’s nest; and lays from four to six eggs, not so round as those of the short-eared species.
Tramping over the moors for a mile or so, a bird rises from the hillside before us and dashes away at a great rate. Marking down the spot, we find a stone surrounded by bird’s feathers and insects’ wings, and pick up a titlark which is still warm. This is the shambles of a merlin hawk who was just going to dine off the titlark when we disturbed him. ”

“ Filled with the joy of first discovery, the scientist voices the language of his soul in one grand apostrophe: “Oh restless Polar sea, that breaks upon this rock-bound coast, and spreads away, I know not where, e’en as Eternity, had I but my gallant ship, I’d sail thy tossing main!” ”

“ A wheatear flying from out of some stones attracts our notice; and here is a nest made of grass and rabbit’s fur, containing six pale blue eggs, not unlike the American blue-birds. This wheatear is called stonechat in America, though it must not be confounded with the English stonechat which is a different species.
We now reach the moors and are soon up to the knees in heather. Bird life here is very numerous. Lapwing plovers fly over our heads, crying “pewit, pewit” in a plaintive note; long-billed curlews are screaming loudly ”

“ It is the first impulse that much govern our actions while working our specimens of the bed-rock. Specimens must be broken from their homes as carefully as one would exhume a mummy. Hammer and chisel must be deftly applied to the mother-rock, giving a nip here and a whack there, making every blow tell. After securing the specimen carefully protect all its friable or delicate parts. This can be done in many ways; often in emergencies where one does not care to utilize their handkerchiefs, a handful of grass applied to a projecting crystal will insure its safety while trimming for cabinet use. ”

“ The nest was in an old snag, about ten feet from the ground. The owl could be plainly seen and I could almost see the eggs while standing on the ground. I had frequently noticed her on the snag, but thought she was roosting there through the day. At the time I found the nest, the snow was on an average of two feet deep. This is the second nest of this species that I have ever found.
Red-tailed hawks are plenty here. I found eight nests in one season; they nest here in February and June, raising two broods. They always use the same nests each year unless they are disturbed. ”

“ He is then on the right road to knowledge, and as he adds species after species to his collection from land, river, or lake and sea, the hobby will grow on him and it will not be dropped when entering a business life as is the case with postage stamps and eggs, but the collection will be kept up and give many an hour’s recreation when worried with the cares of life. ”

“ Should the yolk of the egg be dried up, a small portion of carbonate of soda may be introduced (but with great care that it does not touch the outer surface of the shell, in which case the color is likely to be affected) and then the egg filled with water from the syringe, and left to stand a few hours with the hole uppermost, after which the contents are found to be soluble and are easily removed by the blowpipe, assisted by one of the hooks. ”

“ But no; the scientific mind knows no defeat, and he toils on over the icy fields, while the sun, aweary with his long vigil, sinks further and further in the horizon, as though he could no longer banish the sleep from his eyes, when lo!—an open Polar sea stretches away to the northward, breaking against a rocky, mountainous coast. ”

“ We look around and soon find several more nests and eggs; and in less than twenty minutes we have taken some two dozen eggs, and as we don’t wish to carry them along with us, we hide them beneath a rock from carrion crows until we return.
Jumping over a little brook, a snipe darts away from a tuft of grass. In the center are snugly laid four richly marked eggs of a greenish-olive hue, blotched and spotted with two or three shades of brown. A large series show the eggs to differ much in ground color and markings. This bird is numerous in Yorkshire ”

“ The excuse is “that egg collecting is a healthful and innocent pastime.” Healthful it is, if one collects the eggs himself (which is not the case with the majority) but as to the innocence, that is due to the fact that it is not taken under a full view, and as long as it is healthful and no serious results are immediately visible, it is taken for granted to be innocent. ”

“ A hard compact rock may be more easily broken by striking the stone while held in the hand, first protecting the hand by an old glove, than when laid on a hard surface. Where a stone is known to be quickly broken into fragments it may be found well to wrap the stone in stout paper, or cloth, before pounding. In this way the smaller fragments are easily obtained. Always trimming your specimens at the quarry your next attention should be the wrapping of each individual in soft paper, previous to being carried home. ”

“ During this time it should be kept as much as possible from the light, especially from the sunshine, as the colors are then more liable to fade than at any subsequent time. In the case of very small eggs, when fresh, the contents may be sucked out by means of a bulbed tube, and the interior afterwards rinsed but as before. It is always advisable, as far as possible, to avoid wetting the outside of the shell as the action of water is apt to remove the “bloom,” affect the color, and in some cases alter the crystalization of the shell. ”

“ The bird is one of the most rare in the country, and it is scarcely ever even seen near the haunts of civilization. It is supposed that advanced age had made this bird unable to successfully pursue and capture the game of the wilderness, and that therefore it had ventured into settled regions for tamer prey. ”

“ Then it is so shy and wary, darting off into the deepest concealment whenever its haunts are invaded by the presence of human kind, that were it not for its noisy notes, it would scarcely be known to exist. ”

“ The titlark is one of the commonest birds of this district and we come across several nests, by the birds starting from in front of our feet. Their nests are always on the ground, made of dried grass, lined with hair: and contain from four to six eggs of a dusky brown, mottled over with darker brown, some having black hair lines around the egg. ”

“ Some collectors have a large collection, but know little or nothing about the parent birds. This would not be the case if they really cared for the eggs, but they simply keep them to gaze upon in blank admiration and boast that they have so many more eggs than some one else who may or may not collect with real interest. ”

“ I want, in the first place, to point out the advantages of collecting shells. Collecting can be done all the year round in many localities; and on the sea-shore there is no intermission. There is no climbing of trees as in egg collecting, and no danger of broken bones. ”

“ The nest was a mixed mass of twigs, heather and brakens, raised a few inches high; and the four eggs resting in a slight hollow in the center. Their ground color was a dark, crimson brown, speckled all over with dark brown and black. Some varieties resemble eggs of the kestril hawk, but a series of fifty eggs before me do not show such varieties in color as the eggs of the kestril do. As a rule, they are smaller than the kestril’s eggs and not so round, nor so boldly marked. We blow the eggs and pack them away with care, and proceed farther on. ”

“ It is very active in its movements, and darts through the shrubbery with the rapidity of a flash. It appears to subsist chiefly on insects, many of which it captures on the wing after the manner of its family. It is only in recent years that this species has become a summer resident of this vicinity; and in the particular places where it chooses to reside, it seems yearly to be more common. In the manner and position of its nest, it differs from all the other Canadian flycatchers. ”

“ The nest of this species is placed in the upright fork of a small tree, or where some small branches project from a larger stem. It is a neat, compact structure, much like that of the redstarts, composed chiefly of the fibrous matter that forms between the bark and wood of decayed trees, lined with fine hair. The set of eggs, numbering from two to five, are of a clear white hue. It does not appear to nest more than once during the season. ”

“ Minerals are as much under the necessity of receiving care as is the delicate skin of an infant. Those hard and popularly considered imperishable bodies we do not exempt from the rulings of care as one would suppose. ”

“ Immediately on leaving the ground, he begins to pour out his song, and soaring upward and upward, until he is a mere speck in the sky, when he begins to descend and does not cease singing until he reaches the earth again. ”

“ Every one admires a prettily arranged series of rocks, and in our efforts to please both visual and intellectual senses, ever bear in mind that the direct results to be obtained are ever dependent upon the genuineness of the care bestowed. ”

“ Eggs are all first class, one hole side blown and can be furnished either in sets with data or single,
ALL KINDS OF SPECIMENS, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL.
Bird, Animal and Reptile Skins, Eggs, Minerals, Fossils, Shells, Insects, Alcoholic and Botanical Specimens, Indian Relics, Sea Curiosities, Coins, Stamps, Supplies, General Curiosities, etc. Price Lists, 2 cents each. ”

“ It is almost unnecessary to add, except for the benefit of beginners, that the manipulation of the different instruments requires extreme caution, but a few trials will give the collector the practice necessary for success. Those who may still prefer to blow eggs by means of two holes are particularly requested not to make them at the ends of the eggs, nor on opposite sides, but on the same side. ”

“ Only two species of duck nest in the moors, near the lagoons, the common mallard and the teal.
The mallard usually lays from seven to twelve pale olive-green tinted eggs in a nest of grass, lined with down; size about 2.25x1.60.
The teal builds a nest of vegetable substances, lined with down and feathers. Six to twelve eggs are laid of a buffy white; size, 1.75x1.25.
The short-eared owl is found nesting here; its nest is always on the ground, a simple structure of sticks, grass and heather, upon which it lays four or five white elliptical eggs, averaging in size 1.55x1.25. ”

“ Around the head and mouth of this little creature, serving as arms for obtaining food, he finds a number of tentacles. “Nature has given you a goodly work to do, little architect,” cries the naturalist, “and these tentacles are well adapted to your animal wants. ”