10 



THE OOLOGIST. 



of birds is as foolis'h as those who pro- 

 fess to be good ornithologists without 

 knowing anything about the nesting 

 habits of the common birds they study 

 As I understand it a capable ornitholo- 

 gist must understand the nidification of 

 birds of his section, while the egg col- 

 lector should be able to identify the 

 owners of the nests which he studies. 

 But how often we find the so-called ool- 

 ogists barely capable of naming the 

 bird by the egg, while thousands of 

 them would not be able to name the 

 bird if they saw it away from the eggs. 

 That this is true all observers of this 

 class of fad collectors are fully aware. 



Many collectors gather eggs, as they 

 do all other specimens just because 

 their aquaintances are engaged in the 

 business, as it is too often called. I am 

 sorry to say that fully ninety-nine boys 

 out of one hundred would not collect 

 eggs were they not stimulated by the ef- 

 forts of aquaintances. Thus the cen- 

 surable pastime goes on to the detri- 

 ment of our happy songsters. 



Let me say a word about work in the 

 field. - You may be a most enthusiastic 

 bird's egg man with a wish to devote 

 all your time to a study of eggs and 

 nests, but let me tell you that it is more 

 to the purpose if you will also observe 

 in other departments of natural his- 

 tory. In a short time you can familiar- 

 ize yourself with the reptiles, mammals, 

 insects and plants as well as adding 

 valuable notes to your betterment. No 

 one can afford to be in the woods with- 

 out a note book if he ever expects to 

 become a well versed nature-lover 

 After a year's effort at this advanced 

 work you could not be hired to umit 

 the note book from your rambles. 



Amateurs are too liable to rush into 

 collecting with a zeal which is more a 

 result of collecting greed than it is 

 from a real scientfic love of the study. 

 Thousands of foolish l)oys and young 

 men slash into the birds and eggs for 

 a season or so, intent only on securing 



all they can, and desirous of outshining 

 their companions in the nefarious fad. 

 Such as these rarely make true lovers 

 of the study; the class however, is a 

 large one. I wish there was a law for 

 the imprisonment of all the collectors 

 of this class, or rather a law that could 

 be made operative with their parents. 

 Laws there are plenty of them, but one 

 rarely hears of prosecution. 



There should be a shut down on all 

 nest robbing by boys and by many 

 older persons, people old enough to 

 know better. Parents, guardians and 

 teachers should give strict orders in 

 reference to bird protection, and as 

 well by instruction give the children a 

 love for the birds and other creatures 

 of the wood and field; teaching the 

 boys and girls to observe and study and 

 not to destroy. It is always a pleasure 

 for me to converse with an observing 

 child or older person, but it is dis- 

 tasteful to any lover of our feathered 

 friends to look over a collection of 

 poorly prepared eggs and skins, many 

 improperly identified, and nearly all 

 of which the collector knows nothing 

 of excepting the meager notes em- 

 braced in the data blanks. When the 

 boy or man stoops to this style of col- 

 lecting, and I am sorry to say that there 

 are many of them among us, he is as 

 low as the thoughtless women who 

 make use of feathers for adorment. 

 Now boys and all others may render a 

 valuable service in the line of nature 

 study if they will go at the matter in 

 the right manner. 



This article is already too long, but I 

 hope others will take it up and ad- 

 vance the cause that is herein advo- 

 cated. Let us hope that the Oologist's 

 Association, if it meets, will take action 

 to protect the birds and eggs and not 

 to confine their attention too fully to 

 the consideration of matters that gen- 

 erally occupy the attention of the aver- 

 age fad collector and to the exclusion of 

 truly economic interests 



Respectfully yours, 

 Morris Gibbs, M. D. 



