14 



THE OOLOGIST 





Our next stop was at Worcester, 

 from which a short street-car ride 

 landed us at the Mecca of all orni- 

 thologists, the private Museum of 

 Honorable John E. Thayer at Lancas- 

 ter. Here we were met by a short, 

 fat happy dispositioned man of fifty- 

 one years of age, much to our aston- 

 ishment. It had always been our un- 

 derstanding, and we think is the gen- 

 eral understanding of ornithologists, 

 that Mr. Thayer was quite an old 

 man. He looks really much younger 

 than he is. 



This Museum, which is open to the 

 public on certain days of the week, 

 is devoted entirely to North American 

 ornithology, and contains the best 

 representation of this subject to be 

 found anywhere outside the Natural 

 Museum. One--third of the lower 

 floor is given over to the storage 

 room for skins, of which there are 

 series upon series, including many of 

 the very rarest. Another third is 

 given over to the storage of eggs, 

 which of course, particularly inter- 

 ested the writer. Here our eyes 

 feasted upon a series of nine eggs 

 of the extinct Great Auk, the largest 

 series to be found in any one place 

 in the world, and of which there are 

 but sixty-seven specimens all told 

 known. We also saw a series of 

 seven California Condor's eggs, of 

 which there are but forty-three per- 

 fect specimens known. Eggs of the 

 Black Rail, Yellow Rail, Kirtland's 

 and many other rare warblers, being 

 in series. Many specimens being rep- 

 resented by life groups showing the 

 male and female and nest (in situ) 

 with the eggs. 



The second floor of this building 

 contains Mr. Thayer's collection of 

 mounted birds, of which the endeavor 

 has been to secure a pair, male and 

 female of each specimen and such 

 species. This is perhaps the most 



complete sequence of these specimens 

 in existence, containing a very large 

 number of rarities, including a mount- 

 ed Great Auk, a Labrador Duck, a 

 pair of Guadalupe Caracara, and many 

 others, some of which are extinct. 

 This museum is conducted upon a 

 business basis. A careful set of 

 books and records are kept pertain- 

 ing to everything done and every 

 specimen received and sent out. 



One of the interesting books is a 

 visitor's register, in which may be 

 seen the autograph of all scientists 

 visiting this institution. Strange as 

 it may seem, the last person to reg- 

 ister before Ye Editor was our friend, 

 OOLOGIST— SEVEN. 

 A. M. Ingersol of San Diego, Califor- 

 nia. We are under obligations to Mr. 

 Thayer for the kindness shown to us 

 while at his Museum, and appreciate 

 it much. 



From here we drove to Providence, 

 Rhode Island, hoping to see John H. 

 Flanagan and C. E. Dow, but neither 

 of them were at home, so we wended 

 our way along the coast of Long Island 

 Sound westward, stopping at Saybrook 

 to call at the home of the late Judge 

 John N. Clark, and from there to New 

 Haven, where we drove out to call 

 upon Paul G. Howes. 



We found Mr. Howes a young man 

 who had celebrated his arrival at the 

 age of twenty-one years a few days 

 before. Here we spent one of the 

 most enjoyable hours of the entire 

 trip. Mr. Howes has built a small 

 private museum of his own. While 

 he is primarily interested in ornithol- 

 ogy, yet he is a naturalist of broad 

 attainments, as will disclose itself 

 to any person visiting his place. Here 

 we saw some of the most beautifully 

 prepared specimens of birds nests 

 that we have ever seen. While his 

 collection of ornithological specimens 

 is not large, yet the preparation is 



