^"i^i^'J ASHBY, R.A.O.U. Comircss 211 



If these revolutionary resolutions* were less serious in their 

 effects the humour of them would api)eal to us all. By "promis- 

 cuous collectinj^," the framers evidently intended to refer to the 

 study and collecting of Australian bird life as a whole. It ap- 

 parently ])recludes the making of new discoveries, for the favf)red 

 few are to be limited in their research to definite species. 



Those of us that have been long, and the writer has been one 

 of the longest, in the held, can rest on their laurels, for if the 

 apparent intentions of these resolutions are carried tnit, no new 

 all-round workers are to be bred and trained. 



The astounding absurdity of it all, if these resolutions are 

 carried out to the letter, is still more emphasised when one 

 realises that the resolutions are not intended to take effect only 

 within a limited area, but are intended to have sway over a vast 

 unpeopled continent. 



Clau.se IV. is obviously superfluous. Clause V. recommends 

 the Governments to consult the Union before granting permits. 



I hope all will at once realise that although I have expressed 

 myself strongly, in no sense do I Avisli to be personal. It is no 

 pleasure to me to hurt another's feelings; should my remarks 

 appear of this character to any, I ask them to absolve me of 

 any such intention. My years remind me that my life is near- 

 ing its setting, and T earnestly desire before I pass hence to help 

 the rising generation into fields of study, research and service 

 that have so brightened my own life. 



I move — (1 ) That the seven resolutions referred to be 

 rescinded ; 



(2) That an effort be made by the Union to educate first its 

 own members, and then the public, on the educative value 

 of private collecting. 



The idea that a collection reaches its highest use when placed 

 in a museum is largely fallacious. So much so that a Belgian 

 specialist wrote me .some time back that a museum offered him 

 ilOO for his private collection in a certain group, but he goes 

 on to say that he preferred to give it to the writer of this paper, 

 because, he adds: "I do not want to put it where no one will do 

 anything about it." Collections when placed in museums are 

 not unseldom lost as regards their educative influence on the bulk 

 of the public. My collection, on the other hand, has been 

 used by me as the subject matter for numberless lectures and bird 

 talks to thousands in South Australia and Great Britain. In 

 England in the past few months I have often shown my skins 

 and described the habits and habitats of the birds as many as 

 five times in one day. 



^Practically all present differed from Mr. Ashby in the restricted 

 meaninu- he attached to the resolutions.— Eds. 



