THE OOLOGIST 



13 



for nearly tnirty years, spending the 

 evening at tiis residence and exam- 

 ining his splendid collection of eggs. 

 This collection is perhaps the rich- 

 est in Warblers, personally taken, of 

 any egg collection in North America. 

 For authenticity, accuracy and care 

 in preparation, Fred B. Spaulding has 

 never been excelled. We found a tall, 

 studious, sandy complexioned gentle- 

 man who had every bearing of a real 

 man, and it is with regret that at the 

 time of writing this short review of 

 our stop at his home, where we were 

 so nicely entertained by himself and 

 his good wife, that he has passed on. 

 Would that there were more Spauld- 

 ings engaged in ornithology in North 

 America. 



Monday, the 28th, we drove from 

 Lancaster, southeast through the 

 White Mountains over one of the most 

 splendid drives in all North America, 

 to Portsmouth. The next day driving 

 from Portsmouth down the seashore 

 to Boston. A more interesting trip 

 could scarcely be found, stopping a 

 half day at Salem, noted for its liter- 

 ary genius and ancient witchcraft. 



At Boston of course, one of the 

 first places visited was the Agassiz 

 Museum on the Harvard University 

 grounds. Here we were fortunate in 

 meeting Professor Hinshaw, and un- 

 fortunate in not meting Outrani 

 Bangs. Professor Hinshaw gener- 

 ously ])laced himself and his time at 

 our disposal, showing us through the 

 Museum, where for the first time our 

 eyes rested upon an egg of the ex- 

 tinct Great Auk. Also a set of two 

 eggs and a number of adult and ju- 

 venile skins of the exceedingly rare 

 Spoonbilled Sandpiper. These had 

 iust come in from Northeast Siberia, 

 where they were collected the past 

 spring by our friend Dixon, of Escon- 

 dido, California. At this writing 

 (January, 1111 4), Dixon had not return- 



ed from the south and his friends are 

 much worried. 



From Boston we skirted the sea 

 coast southeasterly passing by and 

 paying tribute to Plymouth Rock, 

 and followed the road around to the 

 very point of Cape Cod, at Province- 

 town over a rolling, sandy, brush 

 covered country where many small 

 and a few large birds were observed. 



This territory is sparsely settled, 

 being occupied almost exclusively by 

 sea going people. The roads however 

 are as good as the best boule- 

 vards in our largest cities. Remain- 

 ing over night at Provincetown on the 

 point of Cape Cod, we returned the 

 head of the machine westerly, August 

 2d, and arrived at Taunton, Massa- 

 chusetts, about six o'clock in the even- 

 ing. To get into communication with 

 A. C. Bent was but the work of a few 

 minutes, and in a little while, a small, 

 thin, wiry scholarly appearing gentle- 

 man called at the hotel and took us 

 to his bachelor quarters. Bent is 

 old enough to know better, but he 

 still persists in remaining a bachelor. 

 Here we spent a number of hours ex- 

 amining the accumulations of this 

 scientist, who is known as an orni- 

 thologist of the first rank from one 

 end of the country to the other and 

 who, from all the bird men of Amer- 

 ica has been selected by the Govern- 

 ment to continue the preparation and 

 publication of Beudire's Life His- 

 tories. 



Mr. Bent's collection of eggs was 

 the largest private collection we had 

 seen for many a long day, and is in 

 excellent condition, being arranged, 

 kept and stored after the manner of 

 a true scientist. Here we saw many 

 rare and unusual eggs, including sev- 

 eral sets of different varieties of the 

 Alusian Island Ptarmigan, which, so 

 far as we know, were unique in their 

 class. Bent has a collection of which 

 he may be proud. 



