THE OOLOGIST 



191 



A CAREFULLY PREPARED SCIEN- 

 TIFIC COLLECTION OF BIRDS' 

 EGGS OF UNIQUE HISTORI- 

 CAL IMPORTANCE 



When J. Warren Jacobs was a youth 

 of 14 years, in the early eighties 

 (1883), he began a collection of birds' 

 eggs, little dreaming that he was 

 more than a "nest-robber", a name 

 in which several youngsters shared; 

 and that, some day, he would be 

 called upon to lay before the world, 

 for its inspection or criticism, the 

 results of careful and studious work, 

 embracing a section of a magnificient 

 collection of oological specimens from 

 all parts of North America. 



Mr. Jacobs denies, with justifiable 

 proof, that, even as a boy, the term 

 'nest-robber" fits his case. The acts, 

 however, disapproved by his parents, 

 he hid away his specimens, feeling 

 that the disobedience was not antag- 

 onistic to an unprejudiced criticism, 

 but rather a desire to show that an 

 honorable and elevating influence ac- 

 crued therefrom, especially when the 

 incentive came from a conscience en- 

 dowed with that inspiration of talents, 

 the gift of the Creator in the birth of 

 a soul. 



Other boys sold, traded or des- 

 troyed their collections and dropped 

 out of the game. New ones came on 

 the scene, only to run the length of 

 an insatiable craze for a few months, 

 or a month at most; but it remained 

 for young Jacobs to bear the post of 

 lone sentinel, detached from the rest 

 by continuous inspiration to hold 

 such material gathered and do hetter 

 work. 



After a year or two, his mother be- 

 came reconciled to the desire of her 

 boy to stick to trips afield in quest 

 of his favorite hobby which entirely 

 disassociated him from the ever 

 changing dispositipps of his youthful 



acquaintances. His father, like the 

 .'■on, had a will of his own which re- 

 quired a longer time to change from 

 settled views, but the egg collection 

 v.-as tolerated nevertheless. That the 

 favor was gaining sentimental ground 

 with the father, was certain, for he 

 v/as observed to bring traveling men 

 and customers from his works to the 

 house to see the collection of eggs. 



To show the eggs to the public was 

 not young Jacobs' intention, but when 

 a director of the County Agricultural 

 Fair, in 1887, mentioned the matter 

 to the boy, a glass show case was 

 supplied and a hundred species of sets 

 of eggs were placed on display. 



Naturally he hung around the ex- 

 hibit, possibly a little pround of his 

 own efforts, but more because of the 

 varied comment he could hear from 

 the crowd always around the case. 

 Standing back, and being unknown 

 to the majority of the throngs, he 

 could enjoy the remarks of apprecia- 

 tion without blushing, and anon, per- 

 mit a little smile to escape at some 

 of the ridiculous and comic remarks. 

 One old lady was sure the set of Cara- 

 cara Eagle eggs were colored with 

 "onion-peel stain", declaring to a com- 

 panion that she had colored hundreds 

 of Easter eggs in that manner. An- 

 other declared that she knew the boy 

 to be of an artistic turn of mind, and 

 tried to open the case to prove that 

 the specimens had been faked with 

 paint decorations. Occasionaly some 

 prepossessing lady, wearing the re- 

 mains of a half dozen murdered 'birds 

 upon her hat, raved at what she 

 choise to term "wanton cruelty." Or, 

 perhaps, a male "wiseacre", who 

 reveled in slaughtering hundreds of 

 birds for sport, would allude to such 

 work as "unnecessary"; but for the 

 most part, the comment was of a more 

 intelligent strain, and along remarks 

 of wonder and amazement; thereby 



