8 PROCEEDINGS 



that you may sometimes be inclined to defy — artfully careless 

 handling of the deceitful implement may prevent arrest and 

 fine." 



All this is a ramble among old memories — very pleasant 

 memories to me. The latter-day attitude toward bird-life has 

 put an end to the business of the professional bird-collector 

 and few, if any, now ply their trade. There is no longer 

 a market for such a commodity as a bird-skin. There are 

 taxidermists still among us — born artists in their line — and 

 far superior to the old-fashioned bird-stuffers. The money side 

 of it was undoubtedly a very important element in the business. 

 The conditions have changed. We value the bird for its life, 

 its beauty of form and color, its song, its fascinating ways, 

 far more than the mere possession of its skin. And yet there 

 are some of us still, those of us who were born back in the last 

 century, who have what Tom Montgomery once described to 

 me as the absolutely illogical desire to get out and shoot speci- 

 mens. It came upon him in the spring ; it comes upon some 

 of us at various seasons — always with the same old tingle of 

 enthusiasm. And I very much doubt, if it is altogether so il- 

 logical as Montgomery imagined. It was this same tingle of 

 enthusiasm, this desire to secure the specimen, that made life 

 so worth while to this interesting and almost forgotten type — 

 the old-time bird collector. 



