12 



THE OOLOGIST 



happy and contented hangs over the 

 nest. 



Not far away, perched on a thin 

 twig, a tiny bird, with golden head, 

 iridescent wings — a feathered jewel, 

 slightly larger than a' humming bird; 

 nearby the mate, also hovering over 

 the nest — Golden-crested Kinglets from 

 Maine. 



A few feet distant some contentedly 

 perched, others ready for flight, an 

 aggregation of all the members of the 

 pigeon family in the United States — 

 small pigeons, big pigeons, various 

 colored pigeons, as cheerful a family 

 as one could imagine. Also families 

 of Owls, grim and sapient looking; of 

 Wcodpeckers, clinging to trunks of 

 trees; of Humming Birds, of Kites, of 

 scores of birds, little and big, all as 

 natural looking, as animated as if they 

 were alive. 



This is the sight which greets a visi- 

 tor who steps from the boardwalk at 

 Atlantic City into a wonderful little 

 bird museum. From the glare of the 

 boardwalk and the tumult of its pass- 

 ing crowds one enters a bird world 

 where, in glass cases, in lifelike atti- 

 tudes, can be seen nearly every kind 

 of feathered creature in the United 

 States. 



For more tha'n forty-five years Wil- 

 liam H. Werner, the little old man 

 with grey hair who conducts visitors 

 from case to case, has been gathering 

 birds. The fact that he has more 

 than 200 species is not so remarkable 

 as his method of preserving them as 

 they were found in their natural sur- 

 rounding — eagles in artificial moun- 

 li-ln eeries. Woodpeckers pecking at 

 trees, sea birds wandering amid sea 

 weeds. In a fac-simile of their natural 

 habitat the old collector can show par- 

 ent birds, their eggs, and the young 

 just emerging from the shells. 



These birds that through years to 

 come will brood in lifelike manner 



over their nests, or continue apparent- 

 ly with never-ceasing delight to revel 

 in their haunts, were gathered from 

 nearly every part of the United States, 

 to be exact from twenty-four states 

 and territories. In the gathering and 

 mounting of these winged treasures 

 Mr. Werner has devoted his lifetime. 

 The result is a collection of its kind 

 that is thought to be unequalled in 

 this country, probably in the world. 

 From a scientific standpoint the col- 

 lection is above value — because, for 

 •the first time, it is said, a collection 

 of a nation's birds has been ma'de and 

 tlie birds preserved in reproductions 

 of their natural habitats. 



To gather these birds during the 

 forty-six years he has spent in the 

 v/crk, Mr. Werner has traveled into 

 distant and remote sections of coun- 

 try often risking his life to secure 

 some feathered treasure. Among the 

 birds he has secured are specimens of 

 a few which have become extinct and 

 these to the ornithologist are of price- 

 less value. 



Most visitors to the Museum wander 

 leisurely among the cases, mark the 

 different varieties and wonder at the 

 indefatigable labor of getting together 

 such a collection. They will hardly 

 associate the genial old man with the 

 museum; an idea' of what he endured, 

 what efforts he made, may never enter 

 the minds of these good folk; but as 

 every notable achievement is the re- 

 sult of some notable effort so as an 

 extraordinary romance does the life 

 of Mr. Werner fit with his wonderful 

 collection. 



When at the age of 20 he began 

 mounting various specimens of Night 

 Herons, Crows, and Scarlet Tanagers 

 caught in the part of Pennsylvania 

 where he lived, he was a young man, 

 lithe of limb, quick and vigorous of 

 movement. He would climb a tree as 

 readily as he would walk or run. To- 



