BEGINNINGS OF BIRD STUDY 17 



lowed in rapid succession. It is wonderful that I am 

 alive to tell the tale. 



Before long I learned how to skin birds, and so 

 gave up the mummy process. The first specimen I 

 tackled had no feathers on it when I got through, 

 but I persevered. My parents, however, were averse 

 to the use of arsenic, so I bought a certain naturalist's 

 " dermal preservative," and in time built up quite a 

 collection. One day I noticed that a specimen looked 

 somewhat awry and undertook to smooth it. The 

 result was that almost every feather dropped off at 

 the first touch. The dermestes larvae had been busy 

 and had riddled every skin " preserved " with 

 the " insect-food." The older and less skilled crea- 

 tions which had been treated with arsenic were intact. 



The question is often asked whether interest in 

 birds can be aroused and maintained without killing 

 and collecting. The best answer is simply one of 

 fact, that to-day there are thousands of bird-students, 

 true enthusiasts, who never kill a bird or rob a nest. 

 In these days there are very many interesting, inspir- 

 ing books about birds, with good illustrations, nu- 

 merous collections of birds in museums, and many 

 fellow bird-lovers with whom to associate. Hunting 

 with the camera satisfies the natural desire for pos- 

 sessing and acquiring, upon which the almost universal 

 collecting instinct is based. 



Had these things been in my boyhood as they are 

 now, I am sure that I could have learned the birds 

 and enjoyed myself just as much by the modern 



