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88 THE CONDOR' VOL. X eral appearance) being dust, insect, and mouse proof, with beautifully smooth slid- ing trays, and every inch of space economized, leaving very little to be desired. ,The next item is probably trays. Except for a number of "freak" shapes there are but two styles of trays, the square and the oblong. I will not try to change any reader's opinion as to the proper shape for trays, but if you haven't ried the square trays, just experiment a little and no argument will be necessary. ,- Trays 2?, 3, 4, 6, and 8 inches square will om6 Locality Datz tJark ILLUSTR-&TES HOW THE OBLONG SHOULD BE L-&BELED accommodate all sizes of eggs and sets. The two smaller sizes work well if made ? inch deep, while the 6 and 8-inch trays should b'e at least 1? inches deep, as the large eggs roll about in .a shallow tray. The 4-inch tray should be made in two depths so as to conform to either of the other sized trays, as trays of two depths in the same drawer look badly. After many trials I went back to cotton as the best material upon which to lay the eggs. Sawdust dyed black gives a beautiful effect to a drawer of eggs and brings out the color values of the eggs in good shape, but it is very dusty, forms an ideal home for many forms of insects, is heavy and easily displaced by any slight jar. Grated cork, plaster paris, and similar substances have all been thoroly tried but have proven uniformly unsatisfactory. Colored cotton of any kind, while rather pleas- ing to the eye upon first glance, destroys the fine shades of color of the eggs, and makes a display rather of cotton than of eggs. A fine grade of white cotton shows the exact shade of each egg, without detracting from it in the least; can be made to hold the eggs nestled securely but lightly, to prevent their rolling; is free from insects, practically without weight,' can be handled pleasantly and easily and is eminently the most satisfactory of all materials for this use. The question of how to label a set of eggs in a tiny tray, without detracting from the general appearance of the eggs themselves is the one thing which has caused me more sleepless nights than any other phase of this subject. I tried laying tiny slips with the name of the species upon the cotton beside the eggs, but they were always crooked or out of place and gave the drawer a decidedly bedraggled appearance. Little blocks of wood with the label pasted on and set in front of each tray looked very well, but the weight of the wooden blocks and the large

I;tI.&NGUL.&I;t LA.BEL FOR THE 

TRA. XZ amount of work necessary to complete the labeling caused this to be abandoned. Little labels stuck vertically in front or back of the eggs in the tray produced a re- markable display of labels with no eggs to speak of in sight. After almost despair- ing of ever solving the problem I hit upon the plan of making a three-cornered