THE OSl'REY. 



139 



the Frei^afa aquila, which, up to two years ago 

 was quite common during the breeding season 

 on tlie islands off the coast of Southern Cali- 

 fornia, is now rarely met with during' nesting 

 time, on any of these islands. I think that a 

 series of five sets of eggs of most species should 

 be sufficient for any oolog'ist. I have taken 

 more than five sets of several species, but some- 

 time ago decided to make five sets the limit for 

 any one variety. 



Yours truh', 



H. J. Lelaxd. 



A REPLY TO THE REV. W. E. HENNINGER. 



Philadelphia, Pa., March 27, 1899. 

 Editor of thp; Ospkev: 



I notice in the February number of your inter- 

 esting Magazine an article under the caption of 

 "The Scourge of Egg Collecting'". The writer 

 of this diatribe goes out of his way to attack 

 Davie's Nest of Eg'gs of North American Birds, 

 which is well known to all students of Oolog)' as 

 a valuable text book. The objection that our 

 reverend friend has to this book is, that it con- 

 tains descriptions of series of eggs of various 

 species, furnished to Mr. Davie by Mr. Crandall, 

 myself, and others, from our respective collec- 

 tiiins. Then the same great scientist goes on to 

 remark that "science mourns over such men as 

 Crandall, Norris, Davie and others." 



Let me tell our learned friend of a most nota- 

 ble omission in his list. The lamented Major 

 Bendire always collected large series of eggs, 

 and the National Mu.seum collection is on the 

 same lines. Bendire said that it was impossible 

 to show the great variety to which all eggs were 

 subject, e.'scept by means of a series of speci- 

 mens of each. But of course the reverend critic 

 \vill, or \vould if Bendire were alive, sav Bendire 

 too is a "bird nnirderer" — he takes more than 

 one egg of a kind. 



It is impossible to describe eggs correctly 

 unless one has a considerable number, as every- 

 body who has seen a large collection of eggs 

 must acknowledg'e. This is the reason why col- 

 lectors keep series of eg'gs. To an ignorant 

 writer, such as I am sorry to find our learned (?) 

 friend, it may appear like bird murder to pos.sess 

 a number of sets of one species; but if the Rev. 

 Henninger had only a little field experience he 

 would know that removing a set of eggs from a 

 pair of birds does not prevent the parents from 

 promptly making another nest, and laying 

 another set of eggs. This is always the case, 

 except when the eggs are nearly hatched. No 

 intelligent ciiUector, however, disturlies the nest 

 in this latter case. 



Davie's book is accurate and valuable to the 

 student simply because most of the descriptions 

 of eggs are taken from a large number. If this 

 had not been the case, the book would have been 

 full of mistakes. I make this suggestion to my 

 clerical critic; as he knows so much more than 

 Mr. Davie, it is unfair to the great armj- of or- 

 nithologists and oologists throughout the 

 country to keep such knowledge to himself. 



Therefore, let him publish a work on similar 

 lines to Davie's, but do not let him patronize 

 any wicked collectors like Crandall or myself, 

 and I am sure that his book, if it only displays 

 half the learning and knowledge that his article 

 will astonish the world. He can describe 



all the species of eggs from one specimen apiece. 



Joking apart, let me advise our reverend friend 

 to keep on studying ornithology and oology for 

 ten years, and then possibly he may be able to 

 give a more intelligent criticism than he has 

 done of Mr. Davie's work. 



Mr. Henninger belongs to the great multitude 

 that are crazy to get into print, and do not un- 

 derstand what fools the3- usually make of them- 

 selves when they do g^et there. 



If he will look over Bendire's work on Oology, 

 he will find that the author always refers to the 

 number of eggs in the National Museum and 

 takes his description, when possible, from a large 

 series of each species. I have taken this space 

 not entirely for the sake of answering the Rev. 

 Henning'er, as I ci>nsider his ig'norance so dense 

 that it would take an axe to cut through it; but 

 also for fear of the effect his article might have 

 upon j'oung collectors who might think he knew 

 what he was talking about, if they were not 

 enlightened. 



Very sincerelj' yours, 



J. P. Norris, Jr. 



IN THE matter of CRANKS. 



Philadelphia. Pa., March 30, 1899. 

 Editor of the Osprey: 



I am delighted to hear that you intend to sit on 

 cranks in The Osprev, as'l think they have 

 become rampant lately and deserve t(3 be sat 

 upon. Theoretically "these Audubon Societies 

 are all very well, but practically they don't 

 amount to a row of pins, and are for the most 

 part composed of fools who think they have a 

 mission to perform, such as our reverend friend 

 Henning'er, and also the gentleman who wrote 

 "An Ornithological Sermon" in the November 

 number of The Ospkev. The only practical 

 good that the Audubon Societies have accom- 

 plished is to call the attention of some women to 

 the destruction of heronries for the purpose of 

 supplying them with aigrettes. I am .sorry to 

 say that only about 5 per cent of fashionable 

 women have stopped wearing' them, however, 

 and as long' as they continue to be fashionable 

 the 95 per cent will keep on wearing them, even 

 if the ladies know that Herons are being- exter- 

 minated for the purpose of sup])lying them. 

 Very sincerely j'oui's, 



J. P. Norris, Jr. 



volcanic f:ruption. 



Salem. N. J., April 17. ISQO. 

 Editor of the (.)spkev: 



I send you a letter for publication. I have 

 been quiet, but a silent volcano will burst open 

 in time. 



There have been articles in The Osprkv from 

 time to time that have stirred bv blood. I notice 

 that in The Osprev for February there is an 

 article written by Rev. \V. G. Henniiiger, entitled 

 "The Scourge of Egg Collecting." If the Rev. 

 should get a few more unconverted souls at the 

 atar and leave ornithology alone, we would come 

 all right by reasoning, but not bv such fault- 

 finding abu.se, as the Rev. has set before us. I 

 believe the Rev. is angry because he could not 

 write a book on ornithology himself. Further- 

 more. I don't believe he got his diploma if he 

 did study ornithology ten years — not Nature's 

 diploma, anyhow. Mr. Davie had to refer to 



