336 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



South America, when attached to the Beagle in 

 that ship's memorable " voyage round the world." 

 Birds were brought back by all these expeditions, 

 and among them were the types of many little- 

 known species. It was to study all this material 

 that my visit was made. It is not my purpose to 

 discuss the results of this work here. The forth- 

 coming monograph on the Birds of Patagonia 

 will reveal the details to those who may be inter- 

 ested. The collections of birds in the British 

 Museum of Natural History are more complete 

 than in any of the other great institutions. While 

 the exhibition collections are extensive, their great 

 value lies in their educational influence. Here 

 there is no attempt to make the details of classi- 

 fication a basis of the exhibits. No long files 

 of effigies, closely packed together in crowded 

 ranks, bewilder the visitor. Every known kind 

 of bird from a given region is not displayed. A 

 synopsis of the groups into which birds are di- 

 vided is shown by a few characteristic forms from 

 each of the divisions. The commoner English 

 birds are arranged each in a natural setting, the 

 motive being to show some salient feature of the 

 economy of bird-life. Adaptability to environment, 

 methods of nesting, conventional and exceptional 

 protection by color or mimicry and other funda- 

 mental problems, are clearly and well set forth in 

 this way. The label is not primarily to name the 



