A. G. Butler — Hobbies



189



I was 8 years old with a small glass ease in my hands containing

part of my first collection of British moths.


As I have stated elsewhere, it was in 1871, when at the seaside with

my wife, scarcity of insect life induced me to collect birds’ eggs, and tho

difficulty which I experienced in naming them from the scanty

illustrations in oological works tempted me to bring out a book of my

own which should givo the public a better idea of the immense

variability of birds’ eggs. During the few years which I devoted to

making this collection 1 was successful in securing many interesting

variations, both of nests and eggs, many of the latter being illustrated

by myself in my Handbook of British Oology, and by Mr. Frohawk

in Birds' Eggs of the British Isles, reprinted and slightly modified from

British Birds with their Nests and Eggs.


I have always held the opinion that it is the duty of every student

to do his best to add such facts as come to Ins notice to the sum of general

knowledge, and even the most insignificant item added respecting the

life-history of any species should not be ignored as unworthy of record.

We still need much light respecting the causes which produce the

colouring and markings of eggs, and it is only through the collector

that we can hope to acquire information ; we ought not therefore to

regard his labours as frivolous or senselessly mischievous. But

information respecting the variability of eggs is by no means all that

is gained by the collector, for he learns many facts respecting nesting

sites, the habits of birds, their notes, their seasons for nidification,

and if he is fortunate he may add to the facts already known respecting

the nesting-range of the different species ; thus I believe I was the first

to record the nesting of the Blue-headed Wagtail and the Cirl Bunting

in Kent. Dr. Ticehurst also credits me ( Birds of Kent, p. 93) with being

the first to take the nest of the Grey Wagtail in that county, but I

imagined at the time that I had heard of a previous discovery of the nest

in Kent. Perhaps I was mistaken in this supposition. On two

occasions I saw the Great Grey Shrike in that county, and in both

cases during the breeding season, and occurrences of this kind are

interesting even if unimportant.


Of course, the study of bird-life is more instructive than the

acquisition of a collection of eggs, and especially if one only secures



