THE OOLUGI.ST 



89 



When studeats whose conscieutious- 

 ness it would be unjust to lightly ques- 

 tion, indulge in rt^peat^'dlycoileetingnot 

 first alone, but second fnd third layings 

 of birds whose economic value is now 

 becoming known throug;hout thereilma 

 of agriculture us well as ornithology, 

 and birds and their nests and eggs are 

 amassed iu large series, l>y an ever in- 

 cressiagiy largo number throughout 

 the country, aside fjom the question of 

 consideration of the rights of these 

 weaker felluw creature?, asid i from 

 consideration of the marked decreas- 

 ing cf numbers of o! j cts of beauty 

 and iatere.-t, adding immeasurably to 

 the power of 0!ij>yment of nature, and 

 contributing a fertile subject for legit- 

 mate, harmless, and profitable study, 

 there is furnished to the great mass of 

 the people as just cause for complaint 

 from an ecouomie standpoint and not 

 alone is the study of ornithology im- 

 paired by tho lus-i of sul'jeot-i but its 

 cause is injured irreptrably in the mind 

 of tbou-ands of { eople Mho hold the 

 pleasure of diily observation of the birds 

 as tiny friet.d->, vastly above all the ac- 

 cumulated scientific knowledge of the 

 past. 



If a conueleat student can look at 

 an amassed series of a hui dred speci- 

 mens of some species of a bird, or of a 

 thousand eggs, and can conscientiously 

 feel that the redults to true and valu- 

 able knowledge has justified this ter- 

 ribly seri')us sacrifice, it is my belief 

 that he is above reproach. But if he 

 has otie such specimen ia his collection 

 which has yielded nothing to knowl- 

 edge, whoso sacrifice of life has been 

 in vain, then it appeais to me that a 

 careful consideration of the fact must 

 give him regret, kesn and sincere in 

 proportion as his motives are honest 

 and co:,scieutiou8. 



When WH review the enormous num- 

 ber of specimens iu the private col- 

 lections of the country, if we were 

 able to trace all the results they have 



yielded in the way of increase of know- 

 ledge, should we find the sacrifice jasti- 

 fiedv And this does not touch thii mat- 

 ter of the millions of specimens gone 

 to early desi ruction with never a 

 to contribute to any: hincr, throuj^h the 

 misguided efforts of over-zea'ous col- 

 lectors whose ability to obtain, entirely 

 replaced auy ability to abstract ficts. 



It seems to me then that when one is 

 inclined to turn to the pursuit of this 

 study he sho'.ild earnestly. thoLigh:fally 

 Ri^k himself the que^jtiou what bis pris- 

 s'ible ability justifies in t:\e rnatter of 

 coih-cting. 



If such a student would discip i.ie 

 himself, first by an apprenticeship in 

 observing and accumulating facts with- 

 'iut tbe destroyin^r of life and the en- 

 jovmi'Kt of it, would not m-vuy fall by 

 the wayside, and -^ ould not the gain be 

 vastly gn-ater and the sacrifice greatly 

 ]e s?. If a man has '•~erved such an ap- 

 prertieeship, studying birds by means 

 of c«me:a, opera glasses ar^d the many 

 means whereby their lives are not de- 

 stroyed, there has come to him oppor- 

 tunity for the acquirement of more 

 facts and original knowledge than 

 m^ny imagine, and is not tha': man 

 b tter fiUed thereby to enter into the 

 serious part which deals with those 

 lives that the true bird lover will rev- 

 erence second only to human life and 

 will not lightly sacrifice to the passing 

 desire of the moment or to a mistakea 

 idea of need. 



Finally, when a man has fully deter- 

 mined that he ia justified in the pursuit 

 of that high branch of tne stu 1y which 

 occasionally requires the sacrifice of 

 life or happiness, he should u e the ut- 

 most care to assure himself that his 

 methods are such as to guard against 

 waste. When one reads of men taking 

 eggs from the nest when far advanced 

 in incubation and then failing to save 

 them with a weak excuse that they are 

 gone beyond all hope he loses all pa- 

 tience. I have taken a set of Red- 



