The D. V. O. C. and its Twentieth Anniversary 



BY GEORGE SPENCER MORRIS 



If one were inclined to question the potent charm of bird 

 study he would surely have his doubts dispelled by reviewing 

 the history of our Delaware Valley Ornithological Club which is 

 about to start on its third decade. 



It must indeed be a strong and binding interest which takes 

 a group of men and knits them in so close and kindly a fellow- 

 ship for twenty years. 



To many of us who have played our little parts in the history 

 of this organization it has meant a great deal and we find on self 

 analysis that the D. V. O. C. has come to hold a really vital 

 place in our existence. That is the personal side of it. There 

 is, however, a broader and more important aspect of the club 

 and its work. 



Its birth and progress truly mark the renaissance of ornithol- 

 ogy in the city, where once it flourished, but for many succeed- 

 ing years languished — the city that once knew Wilson, Audu- 

 bon and Cassin. 



Faint ornithological quickenings might have been detected 

 throughout the late seventies and early eighties. Collins and 

 Trotter, fired by a common impulse, had started collections of 

 bird;skins ; Rhoads, with little Morris often at his heels, was 

 scouring the woods with a slingshot when he could not beg or 

 borrow a gun; Stone had started to delve among the dusty 

 skins of the Academy; Baily was busy with the birds of the 

 Haverford woods; while Reed and Voelker were exploring the 

 Tinicum meadows. Then some subtile influence drew these 

 kindred spirits together, all save Collins, whose early death we 

 still mourn. 



Thus was born the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, and 

 then was launched the impulse, which after twenty years has 



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