The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1905-11-23
HUNTING BIG EGGS.
HOW THE COLLECTOR GETS AND
PRESERVES HIS SPECIMENS.
It Is Necessary to Have Outfits as
Extensive as Those Of Hunters
of Big Game-some Par
ticulars.

Those who think deer or mountain
lion hunting TO be hard work ought 10
try hunting hawks nests for awhile
and get a taste OF the really strenuous
life. Hawks nest all over the world.
from the equator to the far north; they
make up one OF the largest and most
widely known of any of the bird fam
lilies. To them belong the great bald
erglos snd the tiny srarrow hawks
everyone knows. But their habits are
all different, so that methods which
will result in the finding OF one hawks
nest. says the Los Angeles Times, will
take the hunter directly by the home
of another species. The little sparrow
hawk lays its eggs In a hollow tree,
while the eagle builds bulky nest OF
all sorts of sticks and places 1t In the
very tiptop Of the highest available
tree.
The hawk hunter-who, by the way,
calls himself an "oologist" with
him as much of an outfit as would a
deer hunter. First OF all, he wears a
suit of duck or khaki, lemon. or, prefer
ably. forest green in color and instead
of the usual heavy shoes of hunter,
light leather creations which yield to
every movement OF the foot aud cling
as tenaciousiy TO the bark ot trees ds
would the barefoot. TO aid him in
climbing still further. he carries a
pair of the climbers" used by tele
phone and telegraph linemon. Added
to this is a tin box having straps on
each end so that It may be easily car
ried. and in which the eggs are care
fully packed in cotton.
Entering the forest or the cliff-walled
canyon, the modern hawker strikes out
carefully treading as silently as any
deer hunter, searching the skies fire.
Quently with field glass for the great
birds he seeks Hawks. eagles and
most of the owls nest in early spring
from the first of February to the end
of May. so that the collector must be
aficld early in order to get eggs in
which incubation has not commenced
He scans the tops of trees or such
likely places as he knows and. finding
some great bulk of sticks looming
darlily against the sun he lays down
his paraphernalia and ascends the tree
If the hawk be one of the large species
known as buzzard hawks, a rap on the
trunk of the tree will usually send the
nesting bird in screaming hight from
her home. With the smaller hawks
this test does not apply, but the eX.
perienced hawker rarely climbs TO a
tgh E,H a.. i,
duced to fly.
Once secured and brought safely
home, the next thing for the "ooogist'
10 do is to preserve the eggs. 1his he
does by drilling a small hole In one
side Of the egg and removing the con.
tents by means of a blowpipe. lnstru.
meuts are manufactured for this pur.
pose and many are OF intricate make
for use when the eggs are valuable
and so lar incubated as to he unsav-
able with the unaided blowpipe.
When the eggs are emptied OF their
contents. they are thoroughly dried
with hot air and then laid carefully
entirely dry In case the air has left
any drops of moisture. In day or
two they are placed in their final nest
OF cotton in the drawer OF cabinet
where many other hawks eggs have
preceded them. Each collection is cat.
alogued, and the eggs are marked with
a known symbol. so that not only may
each set be distinguished from all the
but each species may also be
known by a glance at the egg snd
without reference to the printed -ata.
logue.
Many thousands OF dollars worth OF
hawks and other birds eggs pass an
nually through the mails OF this coun-
try. They are sent IN exchange be-
tween collectors living in widely sep.
arated parts of America, and many
come from Europe, where the study OF
birds eggs and ,he sport OF collecting
them have been developed TO a much
greater extent than here.
A rare merlin found only In the
northern part OF Canada during the
breeding season lays an egg worth SIS
10 its fortunate finder: and not only
this, but the merlin usually lays some
three 10 five eggs in every nest, so
that a set" las the full number of
eggs laid by ..rd Is called) may be
worth a neat sum to the hawker who |
fnds 1t. But 1t is not for money that
most Of these men who have taSen up
his kind OF sport go out; many Of
them are independently rich. others
are In lucrative positions, but they
lake 1t up as means OF getting out
INTO the world of the wild. and bring |
home the eggs as souvenirs of their
rips. In time this has grown 10 be
4 regular study. until now almost all
he large museums have a department
devoted exclusively to the study of the
Eggs Of birds. living and extinct