278 Bird -Lore 



expression in the garden of New England plants at his Cambridge home, and 

 in the care with which he developed and protected the forests about his cabin 

 at Concord. 



But the first place in his heart was given to birds. They were for him the 

 most eloquent expression of Nature's beauty, joy, and freedom. Only one 

 blessed with that innate love of birds which is so inherent a part of his being 

 that it grows with his growth, can understand how potent a factor in one's 

 life this strangely sympathetic affinity with birds may become. Brewster, as 

 has been said, was so situated that he could respond to this 'Call of the Bird.' 

 Possessed not only with the desire, but also with the opportunity to gratify it, 

 he had also other qualifications which enabled him to acquire an exceptionally 

 full and intimate knowledge of the birds he met in life. His senses were un- 

 usually keen and discriminating, and showed no evidences of deterioration 

 until his later years. He could hear and identify bird-notes to which the 

 average ear was deaf. 



Enthusiasm, combined with a passion for accuracy, made him a tireless 

 and thorough observer and careful recorder of every detail of his observations. 

 His journals doubtless cover a longer period more fully than those of any other 

 American naturalist. 



While Brewster's field-work was mainly restricted to New England, he 

 made ornithological expeditions to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Colorado, the 

 mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina, lowlands of South Carolina 

 and Georgia, and to Florida and the island of Trinidad, each trip resulting in 

 additions to his collection and to our published knowledge of the birds of the 

 regions named. 



From 1880 to 1887 Brewster was assistant in charge of birds and mammals 

 in the Boston Society of Natural History; from 1885 to 1900 he held a similar 

 position in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, and from the 

 last-named date to the end of his life he was, in effect, honorary or advisory 

 curator of birds of that institution. His active curatorial duties, however, 

 were connected with the development of his own museum. This, a fire-proof 

 brick structure, perfect in all its appointments, was erected on the grounds of 

 his Cambridge home. It contained his library and collection of North American 

 birds, one of the best in existence. It also served as the meeting-place of the 

 Nuttall Ornithological Club and was, indeed, headquarters for all bird-students 

 of the Cambridge region. 



While Brewster had a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of 

 North American birds and a scientist's interest in problems connected with 

 their relationships and racial variations, he was not, primarily, a systematic 

 ornithologist. 



The labor he expended upon gathering his superb collection of North 

 American birds is evidence of the value he placed upon specimens. But it was 

 the bird in the bush, rather than in the hand, which most strongly attracted 



