The Oologist. 



VOL XIII. NO. 1. 



ALBION, N. Y., JANUARY, 189C. 



Whole No. 123. 



Winter Work For the Ornithologist. 



The oruithologist who aspire^) to be 

 more than a mere collector know.s that 

 Ills work does not stop with the close of 

 the collecting seasou. Everj' occupa- 

 tion has two aspects or sides, and in the 

 studies of the ornithologist there is a 

 pleasant side and there is also a time 

 when there is more or less apparent 

 drudgery connected with the work. 

 The bunimer i ollecting is the enjoyable 

 side of tlic naturalist's vacation, and 

 lliere are few of us who need to be spur- 

 refl toward the woods and fields. The 

 real enjoyment of a day atield or afloat 

 is in itself the best reward for the ex- 

 ertions maile and the hardships fre- 

 quently encountered, and the commun- 

 ion with the forms of nature which most 

 strongly appeal to our desires is an in 

 centive which we are unable to resi.st. 

 There is a more laborious purt of the 

 Work rif I he ornithologist, however, 

 which we are inclined to neglect, and 

 yet it is the part which is helpful to the 

 worhi and to those of our fellow-collec- 

 tors in difi'ei'ent legions of the counti'j*. 

 Hence I feel impelled to remind my 

 frit'dds of the Oologist th-it the winter 

 work of the ornithologist is no less im- 

 portant to his ar^vancenu nt in the no- 

 ble science be has espoused, and far 

 more valual)le to his eo worlvers and to 

 the cause of ornithology, than the more 

 pleasurable work of the real collecting 

 time. 



The supreme aim of the student of 

 nature, in any department of her mani- 

 fold aspects, should be the accumula- 

 tion of knowledge for the enlighten- 

 ment of others. The science of orni- 

 thology has made rapid strides in the 

 past few years, solely because the best 



observers were willing to contribute 

 their observations to the gi'owing slock 

 of knowledge He who builds up a col- 

 lection of eggs or skins with no d( sire 

 to contrii)ute the facts acquired to his 

 fellow-collectors, but at the close of the 

 season locks his cainnet and shuts his 

 treasures from the light, and allows his 

 notes to li(! unheeded where none will 

 be the wiser for his season's work, is no 

 better than the miser whose character 

 is regarded as despicable. I feel that if 

 all the colkctors of this country were 

 actuated by the motives of the true nai - 

 uralist, the mails would be burdened 

 witn manuscripts addressed to the Oolo- 

 gist and other journals published in the 

 interests of birds and beasts, and the 

 facts so important to the advancement 

 of this science would soon be brought 

 to light. 



The chief part of the work of the urni- 

 thojf ^-'s' in the long evenings of winter 

 should he the careful study of the speci- 

 mens taken in the proper season. There 

 are frequently dajs in the collecting 

 season when we are scarcely able to 

 prepare the numbers of specimens we 

 have taken, and many desirable a<ldi- 

 tions arn made to our collections when 

 we have no time to .study them what- 

 ever. After we have tramped all day 

 along streams and through swamps, or 

 have clambered up many trees, often 

 with exertions bordering on exhaus- 

 tion, and have prepared the results of 

 the day's efforts by working well into 

 the night, we have little time to give 

 close scrutiny to the treasures v e have 

 obtained to our gieat satisfation. Then 

 many of us feel that the records of oolo- 

 gy are complete enough, and that there 

 are others who are more fitted for that 

 part of the work, so we pay little atten- 



