350 Wonders of the Bird World 



whose method of beautiful preservation has caused quite a 

 revolution in the art of taxidermy during recent years. On 

 this point the works of Professor Elliot Coues may be 

 studied with advantage by every student, and there are 

 many excellent little manuals on the subject of taxidermy 

 within the reach of every school-boy. I am only mentioning 

 this incidentally, as I want to impress on everybody who 

 makes a collection the fact that it is better to begin the 

 study of natural history on a correct basis, and also that it 

 is just as easy to make a good skin of a bird as a bad one. 

 If a specimen is worth preserving, it should always be done 

 in the best possible manner, otherwise it is a pity to have 

 taken the life of the poor creature at all. It is on these 

 carefully-made collections that the study of geographical 

 distribution rests, and therefore every specimen, be the 

 animal ever so common, should be labelled with the utmost 

 care, particulars being given of the sex, locality, date of 

 capture, altitude, etc., as it is only by a gradual accumula- 

 tion of these data that we shall ever arrive at just 

 conclusions as to distribution. 



While giving the above advice, I may also strongly urge 

 upon all young naturalists not to dwarf their studies by 

 contenting themselves with the mere accumulation of British 

 specimens. The study of British Birds is in itself interest- 

 ing enough, but Great Britain forms but a small portion of 

 Europe, which again is but a part of the Palaearctic Region, 

 and therefore study should be progressive, from that of the 

 species of one's own neighbourhood, to those of the county, 

 the province, the kingdom, the continent, and finally the 

 Zoological Region. Then indeed the study of animals 

 becomes an absorbing one, and will never be forsaken by 

 a carefully-trained student. 



To understand, however, what is meant by geographical 

 distribution, it is necessary to remember that the political 

 divisions of the earth are not necessarily the natural ones. 



