28 



THE OS PREY. 



Doubtless there is more room in the secjuvnce 

 of the words for the interpretation that Mr. 

 Norris has forced than we had seen in our hasty 

 perusal, but we did not see any connection lurk- 

 ing- in that seipience and Dr. Knowlton has 

 assured us that hedidnot intendsuch. — Edi'iok.] 



The Utility of Lakc.k Sekiks of Eoos and 

 Nksts: a Reply to Dk. F. H. Knowi.ton. 



EniTOK OF THE Ospkey: 



In the September number of The OspkKY, Dr. 

 F. H. Knowlton. under the pretense of criticis- 

 ing- "Excessive Egg Collecting-"', takes the op- 

 ])ortunity of making statements about myself 

 which I cannot allow to g-o unchallenged. What 

 inspired the animus of Dr. Knowlton's article is 

 difficult to imagine, as I have not the honor of 

 his acquaintance. 



Dr. Knowlton says "it is perfectly evident 

 that Mr. Norris had not the honor of a personal 

 acquaintance with Major Beiulire or he would 

 never have dared to bring him into this malo- 

 dorous discussion". I knew Major Bendire well 

 for 12 years and many times had the pleasure of 

 showing- him my collection — the last time only 

 a little more than a year before hi.s death. He 

 frequently made the assertion that the only 

 scientific way to collect eggs was in series 

 and large series too. Never did he saj' one word 

 against the size of any of my series. In addi- 

 tion he g^ave me the names of many collectors 

 from whom I obtained rare and valuable sets. 

 I quote the following from one of Bendire's last 

 letters to me, dated November 20, 1896. 



"The eggs you g-ot throug-h me from Price are 

 very scarce and I do not know of any in more 

 than one collection (in Bryant's) and he has not 

 got them all. 



"Mr. Anthony, of San Diego, has recently 

 sent me several egg-s of. the Least, Socorro and 

 Black Petrels from Lower California, more than 

 I care to buy for the collection, which are all 

 new to science, and of which I will let a couple 

 of each species go to some good collection if 

 wanted". 



So much for my acquaintance with Bendire. 



In regard to Dr. Knowlton's assertion that no 

 information of any value has been published 

 regarding the Norris collection, this statement 

 is also untrue. From 1886 to 1893, a series of 

 about 100 articles on Oology written by J. Parker 

 Norris was published in the Ornithologist and 

 Oologisf. 



Mr. W. Brewster praised these articles, sa^'ing 

 that he considered them both valuable and inter- 

 esting. Possibly Dr. Knowlton may consider 

 Mr. Brewster an authorit3\ 



In regard to the statement that the collection 

 benefited nobody but its owner, that also is an 

 error. A great many oological specimens have 

 been identified by its owner for young collectors, 

 and quite a number of birds have been found 

 breeding for the first time through suggestions 

 made to collectors by myself. Of course there 

 is only a negative merit in this, but, in addition 

 to this, the collection is, and always has been, 

 open to any student of Ornithology or Oology 

 who desired to inspect it; and an}' information 

 that I have been asked for has always been 



cheerfully g^iven. What more can a Museum 

 collection do than this? 



I wish also to take issue with Dr. Knowlton 

 respecting Hummers' and Kentucky Warbler's 

 eggs. 



There is but a slight variation in the eggs of 

 any of the Hummers found breeding in the 

 United States with the notable exception of 

 those of Eugenes fulgms, which of course are 

 much larger; but the variation in the nests is 

 enormous and Hummers' nests are always pre- 

 served with the eggs by all collectors. To cite 

 a case, we will take the Ruby-throated Hummer's 

 nests from Pennsylvania which are invariably 

 covered with lichens, whereas in Iowa the Ruby- 

 throat's nests are usually, if not always, with- 

 out lichens. To take another case, in California 

 nests of Troc/iilns alc.vanderi are usually built 

 of sponge-like substance, whereas in Texas thev 

 resemble very much the nests of the Ruby 

 throat from the east. In addition to these facts, 

 there is a great variation in the nests from the 

 same locality, and it would be not at all difficult 

 to select forty nests of the Ruby-throat showing 

 great variation. 



As for the hundred and fifty eggs of Red- 

 tailed Hawk, one could not begin to show all the 

 variation that the eggs of that species are stib- 

 ject to in a series of that number. 



Now for the nine hundred and seventh' eggs 

 of the Kentucky Warbler. It is quite superflu- 

 ous for Dr. Knowlton to saj' that he would not 

 collect that number, for if he were more accurate 

 he would say that he could not collect that 

 number, or one-twentieth of that number. It 

 took me three 3'ears before I could find one set 

 of eggs of this species, and my series of sets has 

 been the result of twelve 3'ears of hard work. 

 This species is most abundant in southeast 

 Pennsylvania, particularly in Chester and Del- 

 aware Counties, and there are at least 750 pairs 

 breeding each year in Chester County alone; 

 but the nests are difficult to find and it requires 

 hard work to find even one. 



Any person who has carefully gone over a 

 large collection of eggs will find out that the 

 family that shows the most variation in their 

 eggs is the Warblers, and among these birds 

 there is none that show more variation than the 

 Kentucky Warbler's eggs. If anybody doubts 

 this assertion I am quite willing to prove it by 

 showing them ni}' series. I have discovered 

 quite a number of interesting facts from this 

 series, among which are that each set of eggs 

 laid by the same pair of birds has a distinct in- 

 dividuality, which is reproduced everj' year; 

 that 10 to 12 days after the first set is laid, a 

 second is laid if the first is disturbed, provided 

 the first laying should not be heavily incubated; 

 that the same pair not only returned to the same 

 woods each year but nearly always to the same 

 part of the woods; that when the set is small the 

 eggs are large, and when the set is large the eggs 

 are small; and finally that the average life of a 

 pair of Warblers is from five to eight years. 

 These are a few of the facts that I have learned 

 from my series. 



Another reason for my having large series of 

 Warblers' eggs is the fact that for some years 

 past it has been m^' intention to publish some 



