. The Oist . solar heat, causingthe surroundings of the nest to retain anequal temperature during daytime. Thisseems reasonable, as the nests of this spe-cies are generally placed in situations sur-rounded by shallow, still water, with suf-ficient grassy covering to hide it from ene-mies. The bird, therefore, in a case likethis, would manage to produce young fromeighteen eggs by sitting close on them atnight, thus retaining an equal temperatureto the end. MontreaL Wm, Couper. Insects Destroying Eggs.^A corres-pondent is anxious to find some method ofpreventing insects from destroying hiseggs.
. The Oist . solar heat, causingthe surroundings of the nest to retain anequal temperature during daytime. Thisseems reasonable, as the nests of this spe-cies are generally placed in situations sur-rounded by shallow, still water, with suf-ficient grassy covering to hide it from ene-mies. The bird, therefore, in a case likethis, would manage to produce young fromeighteen eggs by sitting close on them atnight, thus retaining an equal temperatureto the end. MontreaL Wm, Couper. Insects Destroying Eggs.^A corres-pondent is anxious to find some method ofpreventing insects from destroying hiseggs. We keep ours in cases in the library,a room in constant use, and have no diffi-culty of this kind to contend with. Per-haps Dr. Wm. Wood will enlighten us. Humming Bird.—Sept. 9th being coldand wet, a Humming Bird was caught andbrought to us. We fed it with sugar fromthe lips until morning, when we gave it itsliberty. It proved to be a young female,and when first brought, chirped quite loud. 52 THE OOLOGIST. Tfte ©^fogist, SEPTEMBER, 1880. OOLOGICAL AMBITION. TN the lamentable days of struus-up birdseggs, when the youth of the land werebent on seeing who could make the largestholes in their specimens without breakingthem, and stringing them up in their par-lors as evidences and mementoes of theirsearch in the woods and fields, we do notread of much advance made in oologicalscience. The ambition of the gatherersof these rude and barbarous specimenswas not to ascertain whether a HummingBird might ever lay three eggs, or aChickadee but four. Their energies wereexerted in endeavoring to rival their com-petitor collectors in obtaining the largeststring and the prettiest specimens; toofrequently without reference to genuinequality. This state of affairs gave birthto a great many would-be oologists, butcould-only-be collectors, who knew andcared little about the birds whose eggsthey were puncturing. A book now audthen appeared, notably from the foreignpress, giving descriptions of
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