1574 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



this from the descriptive labels on the cages. 

 New Caledonia, Formosa, Pegu and Patagonia 

 are good material for castles in Spain. But for 

 full realization of the meaning of these names, 

 one must visit the wharves and docks and the 

 shops of the great importers, where come the 

 men to whom New Caledonia and Formosa are 

 not mere words on a label. 



That brilliant if diminutive Gouldian finch, 

 gravely wheezing his ludicrous song, represents 

 the climax of the effort of a succession of human 

 minds and hands. Some Australian bushman 

 has spent weeks in the lonely scrub of the north- 

 west, keeping vigil at the only water hole for 

 miles about. At last, a single pull of the net- 

 rope has enmeshed dozens of gaudy mites. Then 

 the gruelling trip back to the outposts of civili- 

 zation, where the catch is turned over to the 

 local dealer. After a long trip at sea, in charge 

 of the agent of an American or European tra- 

 der, comes the arrival at New York, San Fran- 

 cisco or "somewhere in Europe." Here the birds 

 are resorted and reshipped to the many retailers 

 who distribute them among the final owners. 



In India, much the same system prevails, ex- 

 cept that the trapping is done by natives. In 

 the neighborhood of Bombay and Calcutta, pro- 

 fessional bird-catchers ply their trade. The 

 great markets of these cities have many bird 

 stalls, each well supplied with potential song- 

 sters. Farther north, collecting is more casual, 

 and less skillfully done, so that few birds reach 

 us from that region. 



The course followed in Africa is a middle 

 one. Here the collector is usually in quest of 

 the mammals which abound, and to him birds 

 are of small consequence. Such as he does get 

 are obtained quite by chance from natives, as 

 the caravans are passing. There are, however, 

 a few dealers who gather birds from the native 

 catchers and dispose of them to traveling 

 agents. 



The South American method is quite differ- 

 ent. Here are no proper trappers, skilled in 

 their art. Although the Neotropical Region 

 boasts of far more species of birds than any 

 other, its possibilities are almost entirely unde- 

 veloped. In the public markets of most of the 

 larger cities, birds of a few common kinds are 

 generally to be seen. Occasionally one finds a 

 man, usually a Portuguese, who conducts a sort 

 of zoological clearing station. But for his 

 wares he depends on more or less nomadic In- 

 dians, who bring their hand-reared pets from 

 the interior. The only birds commonly trapped 

 are the smaller finches and tanagers, which are 



caught in some numbers, as occasion demands, 

 by small boys. 



This region has been exploited chiefly by 

 American dealers whose stock in trade consists 

 of parrots and monkeys. Few uncommon or deli- 

 cate birds reach us from this source. By means 

 of our own expeditions and the permanently es- 

 tablished Tropical Research Station, we have 

 done much to overcome these obstacles. The 

 latter, especially, has brought us many rarities. 

 Rut not until the dealers who control the market 

 have acquired more of both skill and initiative, 

 will the zoological treasures of the great south- 

 ern continent fully be opened to us. 



LABEL MAKING IN THE FIELD. 

 By William Beebe 



WHEN one has reached some remote field 

 of research in tropical jungles or else- 

 where, at the cost of considerable ex- 

 pense and many days of travel, every moment 

 is of scientific worth. Foresight should have so 

 arranged that all possible details and prepar- 

 ations are already provided for, so that in the 

 field every activity of body and mind may be 

 concentrated on the work in hand. 



Labels are one of the time-consuming neces- 

 sities that sometimes can not be planned in ad- 

 vance, especially in those cases where places, 

 dates and other minutiae are incapable of pre- 

 diction. I have spent many weary and thor- 

 oughly begrudged hours in writing series of la- 

 bels, whose items I could not have forseen. 



;.. . :.-• ' . . 



TYPEWRITTEN LABELS REDUCED BY PHOTOGRAPHY 



Proper spacing of the typed matter— before photograph- 

 ing— is important. In this instance, the space be- 

 tween the columns was 1 % inches, and the hori- 

 zontal spaces were 5-16 of an inch. To facilitate cut- 

 ting apart, dotted lines could be made through the 

 horizontal spaces on the copy. 



Assuming that the scientist has an ordinary 

 photographic outfit, I can suggest a method of 

 fulfilling all the requirements of label duplica- 

 tion in the field, no matter how intricate or lo- 

 calized mav be the data. This method is to 



