432 XOTES. 



less than 300 contributors. The donations then amounted to 

 ^935, nnd the amount promised has even now only reached 

 ^1,000, whereas the committee hoped to obtain at least twice 

 that sum. For those who have come forward there is nothing but 

 praise ; the cause of complaint lies in the paucity of subscribers. 

 Only 300 admirers of Owen can be found desirous of giving con- 

 crete expression to their feelings of regard. The fact is humiliat- 

 ing, and, for the sake of British science, we trust it will soon be 

 altered. Of Sir Richard Owen it can truly be said that among 

 students of science ' many shall commend his understanding, and 

 as long as the world endureth it shall not be blotted out ; his 

 memorial shall not depart away, and his name shall live from 

 generation to generation.' But Owen's greatness should not only 

 be appreciated by men of science ; it should be made known to 

 the world by means of a monument. As a mark of respect to 

 their master and an act of duty, all naturalists should add a stone 

 to his cairn." 



We trust that since the above was written (in July) that the 

 fund has considerably increased. When we first heard that a fund 

 had been started, we hoped that there would have been such an 

 amount of money forthcoming as would have enabled the commit- 

 tee to have founded an Owen Scholarship in Comparative Anatomy 

 as well as the intended statue at South Kensington. . 



Although Mr. C. Bendire, in his valuable and suggestive 

 paper, writes only for American oologists, his remarks are equally 

 applicable to collectors elsewhere. He says : — 



" Unless the would-be collector intends to make an especial 

 study of oology, and has a higher aim than the mere desire to 

 take and accumulate as large a number of specimens as possible, 

 regardless of their proper identification, he had better not begin at 

 all, but leave the nests and eggs of our birds alone and undis- 

 turbed. They already have too many enemies to contend with, 

 without adding the average egg-collector to the number. The 

 mere accumulation of specimens is the least important object of 

 the true oologist. His principal aim should be to make careful 

 observations on the habits, call-notes, song, the character of the 

 food, mode and length of incubation, and the actions of the 

 species generally from the beginning of the mating season to the 

 time the young are able to leave the nest. This period comprises 

 the most interesting and instructive part of the life-history of our 

 birds. 



Do not start with the idea that because a certain species 

 may be common with you everything must consequently already 

 be known about it, and that your observations would be useless. 



