June i, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



823 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE 

 BIRD COLLECTING AND ORNITHOLOGY 



The letter from Mr. Joseph Grinnell pub- 

 lished in Science for February 12 last, in 

 which he pleads for the conservation of the 

 old-fashioned bird collector has led the present 

 writer to suggest a few points on the other side 

 of the question. The menace to our laws pro- 

 tecting birds and to our system of government 

 bird reservations contained in Mr. Grinnell's 

 attacks on them does not seem serious, nor 

 does anything in his letter appear likely to 

 greatly affect the opinion now prevailing not 

 only among the general public, but among 

 scientific men, that even a much more com- 

 plete disappearance of such bird collectors can 

 be contemplated without anxiety for the fu- 

 ture of science in general and of ornithology 

 in particular; that the usefulness of such 

 collectors except in remote and little explored 

 regions has largely gone by; that their assist- 

 ance to real science is rarely more than very 

 slight and oftener nothing at all; and that 

 their destructiveness is very great. Too many 

 of Mr. Grinnell's claims are directly opposed 

 by the results of practical experience. For in- 

 stance, who can deny that many holders of 

 permits for collecting birds for scientific pur- 

 poses are using them for commercial collecting, 

 and that many of those who are making bird 

 collections either with or without such permits 

 encourage violations of the law by others 

 through buying specimens from those who 

 have no right to kill or sell them? Yet Mr. 

 Grinnell would have us break down all restric- 

 tions, and have collecting permits " issued by 

 both state and federal governments freely to 

 applicants upon avowed sincerity of purpose." 

 Neither does Mr. Grinnell's claim that 

 sportsmen are more liberally treated than those 

 claiming to have scientific purposes in view 

 require discussion here. The rapid decrease 

 of our game birds indicates the need of better 

 control of the sportsmen, but not necessarily 

 the removal of restrictions from others. 



On the other hand, there are many ques- 

 tions raised in or suggested by this letter that 

 are timely and deserve serious consideration, 

 and it is to some of these that the writer in- 



tends to confine his communication. Are any 

 real scientific investigations, even of very 

 minor importance and doubtful value, being 

 prevented or hindered by existing restrictions 

 on collecting? If so, can Mr. Grinnell name 

 them? Has not systematic ornithology, that 

 is the distinguishing and describing of new 

 species, subspecies and races, proceeded to 

 such a point in nearly all parts of North 

 America that material is now needed as a 

 basis for any reliable conclusions in amount 

 far beyond what even the most capable ama- 

 teur can accumulate, even if unrestricted in 

 his collecting? Are not the large collections 

 of the National Museum and other public and 

 semi-public institutions made partly for just 

 that kind of study, and is not the help of such 

 institutions liberally given to those who 

 desire it? 



The writer will not maintain that there are 

 not still many restricted and special problems 

 in systematic ornithology even in the United 

 States, which independent study can effectively 

 deal with. Is there any would-be investigator 

 having a definite problem of that kind to 

 settle that finds his purpose blocked by the 

 refusal to permit him to collect the limited 

 and special material necessary for his needs? 

 The scientific value of the average bird col- 

 lection, or even of one made with far more 

 than average care, is greatly overrated. As a 

 rule the collector publishes little or nothing 

 in regard to his studies, if indeed he does 

 study his specimens at all. If he happens to 

 be a wealthy man he may acquire large series 

 of birds and eggs, entailing great destruction 

 of bird life and disastrous effects on some of 

 our rare and disappearing species; but when 

 he tires of his fad, or when his collection 

 comes into the possession of his heirs, it is 

 not unlikely to perish from dust, moths and 

 careless keeping, or, if eventually donated or 

 sold to some public or educational institution, 

 to reach the latter in a condition where most 

 of its scientific value has been lost. Amateur 

 collectors frequently fail to preserve those 

 notes and data by which they might fill the 

 gaps in our scientific knowledge and the defi- 

 ciencies in the descriptions in our scientific 



