Birds. 171 



and Mr. Philip Crowley, the ornithological collection of the 

 British Museum has gradually been raised to the foremost 

 position, and one of its most formidable rivals, the Honourable 

 Walter Rothschild, is at the same time one of its most generous 

 patrons. I believe that the utmost estimate of the number of 

 birds' skins and eggs in the year 1872, when I first took office, 

 would be 30,000, or 35,000 at the most. At the present 

 moment, the series is more than 400,000 in number, of which the 

 eggs alone number close on 100,000, The donations are 

 chronicled in detail below. 



One more remark may be permitted. The collection of 

 the British Museum must always be of priceless value, as 

 it contains the material on which was founded the " Catalogue 

 of Birds," being a description of all the known species of 

 bii'ds in the world. The great collections presented or be- 

 queathed to the Museum during the past twenty years were 

 formed with the distinct idea of illustrating the natural history 

 and geographical distribution of birds, and these collections 

 afford material for exact study unequalled by any other museum 

 in the world. 



In the following pages are given the details of the gradual 

 progress of the Ornithological Section, as far as it has been 

 possible to compile the record from existing documents. 



