34 ORNITHOLOGICAL DIRECTORY. 



Collecting specimens of birds and eggs for private ex- 

 amination and study, has attained great popularity, and 

 proven of great value to individual ornithologists and 

 oblogists, who now vie with each other in the rarity and 

 value of their collections. A particular branch of sci- 

 entific research is the pursuit of collecting fossil eggs, 

 and in this relation, some wonderful acquisitions have 

 been made by scientific academies. We hear of such 

 eggs as those of the Moa, measuring eight inches long by 

 six in width ; of the u^pi/oniis maximus, an egg meas- 

 uring eleven by thirteen inches, with a capacity of over 

 eight quarts ; of the Sheath-bill {Ghionis minor) ^ and 

 others being discovered and added to the collections of 

 our public institutions. 



The growth of interest in ornithology, and the ad- 

 vancement made in various connections for promoting 

 this science, are exemplified by the rapid increase in the 

 number of species of North American birds discovered, 

 since the first list was published. The following is a list 

 of the number of birds given at different times from 1814 

 to the present time : — 



North American Birds according to Wilson, 1814, . 283. 



North American Birds given by Bonaparte, 1838, . . 471. 



North American Birds according to Audubon, 1844, . 506. 



North American Birds described in 1860, with extra-limit- 

 al species, 738. 



North American Birds described in 1860, known to be ac- 

 tual inhabitants, 674. 



Number of Species of North American Birds, 1877, . 648. 



