90 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
noxious insects all through their summer campaign. The amount 
of actual damage inflicted upon the farmers by those who collect 
the eggs of insectivorous birds, and useful birds of prey, is un- 
doubtedly great. Is it not time for egg collecting to be brought to 
a fullstop, at least for five years? The country is full of eggs, and 
egg “‘collections,’’ the majority of which are of doubtful value, 
and for the most of which nobody cares. Ifthe bulk of eggsand egg 
literature may be accepted as an index, it is safe to assert that 
regarding the oology of Eastern North America there is very little 
of value that can be added by school-boys. 
As an instance of what a professional collector can do in the 
wholesale destruction of birds, consider a few figures. We have 
before us a copy of a small publication called the Oologist, pub- 
lished at Albion, New York. On page 104 is a ‘‘list of the sets of 
eggs of warblers in the collection of J. P. Norris, Esq., on Oct. 1, 
1897.’’ Fifty-one species of warblers are represented in the col- 
lection ; and here are a few of the figures given: 
Worm-eating Warbler,. ......... . 84 sets, 416 eggs. 
Yellow. Warblers (st. ose. 2) 2494 esets ance Sieeaecs 
Ovenvbirds << ssi) eas, es oe OD eSete emer 
Yellow-breasted\Chat;s20...° 5 4.4 (5, FISOSsets a o2lecce: 
Kentucky Watbler;,. 2:5 29. 4. . 2 o .210esets oilienace 
Grand total for 51 species, . . . . . 1,274 sets, 5,483 eggs. 
The birds of North America number 766 species. Those of the 
Eastern United States alone number 400 species, of which the 
warblers enumerated represent one-eighth. Judge then from these 
figures the probable number of eggs in the entire collection of 
Mr. Norris. It is difficult to ascertain the total number of egg- 
collectors in the United States, but there are several hundred, 
beyond all doubt, leaving entirely out of account the thousands 
of small boys who play at ‘‘ egg-collecting.’’ It would be exceed- 
ingly interesting for some professional oologist to secure sufficient 
data on which to base an estimate of the total number of collectors 
in the United States, the approximate number of eggs in their 
possession, and the number now collected annually. It is likely 
that to represent the total number of eggs available to-day, six 
large figures would be required, and possibly seven. 
To the scientific egg-collectors themselves—the serious-minded 
men, not the irresponsible schoolboys who robs nests under the 
