THE OOLOGIST. 



OOLOGiST and kindred journals, and 

 only after the publication of full notes 

 from these regions can there be written 

 a full discriptive ornithology of North 

 America. 



Hence we think that the winter work 

 of the ornithologist should be largely in 

 the way of disseminating the knowledge 

 acquired in the collecting season and 

 treasured in the note-books. Give 

 others the benefit of your observationSj 

 even though they appear trite and com- 

 mon-place to yourself, and thus aid the 

 progress of the science you love so 

 well. 



The fortunate possessors of large 

 series of eggs of any species are in posi- 

 tion to be of wonderful benefit to those 

 who are in need of facts. There is a 

 scientific value in a large series, only 

 when the data are placed within the 

 reach of students able to deduce the 

 proper knowledge and to make it part 

 of the common stock. There are many 

 collections containing large series of 

 eggs formed for their scientific value, 

 from which science has never gained an 

 iota of advancement. Thj facts about 

 these large series should become mat- 

 ters of record and public examination. 

 In the prosperous days of an ornitholo- 

 gical and oological journal now extinct, 

 there were published data of large 

 series of eggs from the largest private 

 collection in America, and thus that col- 

 lection became of something more than 

 mere private interest. Large series are 

 nice to gaze upon and to show to the 

 owners of less pretentious collections, 

 but the collector of a large series has a 

 respon =' I >i'ity resting on him which is 

 only T i< ' ed when he benefits the less 

 fortuM.iu^ collectors by his contributions 

 to tb'- appointed means of spreading 

 the knowledge be has gained. I have 

 read of collections containing hundreds 

 of eggs of the Hawks and other Rap- 

 tores, and yet no word of knowledge 

 concerning the habits of these birds has 

 issued from the collectors whose work 



has been described. Not long ago I 

 read in a back number of the ''O. and 

 O." of a "perfect collection" in a neigh- 

 boring State, containing hundreds of 

 Hawks' eggs, and yet when I began to 

 search for data about the Red-tailed 

 Hawk the available material was indeed 

 meager and there was not a contribu- 

 tion from this "perfect collection." 

 What a storehouse of materials -within 

 the grasp of that ''perfect collector!" 

 What matters it to you and to me how 

 perfectly he prepares his specimens, 

 even with his tools of his own make, if 

 hundreds of such specimens are to lie 

 where the world is none the wiser for 

 such perfect work. 



It is true that time and patience are 

 necessary for the examination of hun- 

 dreds of specimens and the recording 

 of the ascertained facts, but why are 

 such large collections formed except 

 that science may be enriched and our 

 knowledge extended? I have stated 

 that one phase of the work of the orni- 

 thologist is apparent drudgery, and it is 

 this part of the work that 1 had in mind 

 when I wrote the ahove statement, but 

 work is necessary to the advancement 

 of any cause. It sometimes requires 

 the hardest sort of work to secure our 

 specimens, and we should not hesitate 

 at the subsequent part of the work 

 which means the advancement of the 

 science for which we ai'e really labor- 

 ing. The leisure time of the ornitholo- 

 gist through the winter can be profita- 

 bly spent in the study of his treasures, 

 the careful recording of the knowledge 

 thus obtained, and the publication of 

 his observations for the benefit of others. 

 Not the facts about the rare species 

 only are needed, but the common every- 

 day observations, such as all of us make 

 and daily record about the behavior of 

 the birds in which we are interested. 

 Those who are fortunate enough to find 

 the rare species will also remember 

 their obligation, and thus all our feath- 

 ered friends will receive their due f-haie 

 of attention. 



