ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS 135 



you (except for between a fortnight and three weeks), 

 and some of it has been pretty tough work. Two 

 hundred duck skins is a lot of labour, as you know, 

 and it has all been hard collecting, as I have never 

 had a big shoot as we think of big shoots in England. 

 I wish I had some one with me — ^this skinning is 

 the very devil when you come in tired in the evening. 



" The interval I spoke of was spent in going 

 through private collections and the museums. 

 They are great collectors in this country. Private 

 collections of 5, 10, 15, 25 thousand skins, but 

 they are what I call * accumulators.' They have 

 scores of duplicates, and seem much more proud of 

 mere numbers than a series of skins that tell you 

 something about the bird's life-history. 



" I am now on my way to Florida to get that 

 A. fulvigula and see what northern ducks are in the 

 Everglades at this time of the year. I've got a 

 white man to take me in there. They say he is 

 a very queer fellow, but so long as he knows where 

 the ducks are, that is no great matter. Now look 

 you here. I shall arrive in England about the 5th 

 February, and I shall not have much longer there 

 than time to do my soldiering and start again, if 

 my arrangements work out as I hope. I have 

 taken an appointment from the American Museum 

 as ' field naturalist for the year 1914, with the option 

 to renew the appointment in subsequent years.' 

 They very kindly gave it to me in order to give me 

 some official position, which I required in order to 

 get permission to join the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, 

 that goes to Pt. Barrow in the spring, and also 

 leave to collect in that country and the Aleutians. 

 " Now I am particularly anxious to see you as 



