THE OOLOGIST 



39 



Of course the collection of North 

 American specimens, both in birds and 

 eggs, has been my primary considera- 

 tion, and I liave such things as a per- 

 fect pair of Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, 

 Passenger Pigeons, Carolina Paroquet, 

 and many of tlie other rare and choice 

 North American birds. 



Aside from the North American col- 

 lection, I set out to get together a col- 

 lection of the most beautiful birds to 

 be found in the world, and to this end 

 I have searched the globe over for 

 rare and beautiful birds, and I have 

 them from almost every tropical clime 

 on earth. To form any idea of the 

 brilliancy and beauty of them they 

 would have to be seen. 



In addition to this, I naturally have 

 been attracted by other fcms of nat- 

 ural history that were beautiful; so I 

 have gained the idea' that my museum 

 should be one designed mainly to show 

 the most beautiful forms of animal 

 life I have accumulated a collection 

 of several hundred of the most beauti- 

 ful and spectacular butterflies and 

 beetles, as well as shells, corals, and a 

 hundred and one other forms of nat- 

 ural history, rejecting every specimen 

 of every sort that is not absolutely 

 perfect, and with the cne idea in mind 

 not to be systematical in collecting all 

 the forms of any particular species or 

 family, but to pick out only those that 

 are particularly beautiful in both form 

 and color. 



I h^pe within th3 next twelve months 

 to have a museum completed where 

 all these specimens can be seen; then 

 any of the readers of the Oologist 

 will be more than welcome whenever 

 headed this way if they will stop over 

 and take a look. 



K. B. Mathes, 

 Batavia', N. Y. 



We wish other collectors would 

 write similar letters descriptive of 

 their collections. — Editor. 



GENERAL NOTES 



Mrs. Ramon Graham reports March 

 1st the ground at Ft. Worth, Texas, 

 with snow and ice, and Meadowlarks 

 (Western) and Cow Birds plenty. 



M. W. Deutsch of Crystal, Minne- 

 sota, reports Feb. 11th, a Magpie, A. 

 O. U. 475, shot at Crystal Lake, Blue 

 Earth County, Minn The first record 

 for that locality. These birds seem to 

 be moving eastward. 



J. Earl Harlow, of Texico, Illinois, 

 reports Jan. 24th, Robins and a Bald 

 Eagle, Jan. 8th, first one seen since 

 1917. 



G. Raymond Barlow, of Danielson, 

 Conn., reports Prairie Horned Larks, 

 at that place July 6th, 19L"i, a nrst 

 record for Eastern Connecticut. 



Lawrence E. Allen, Albion, Iowa, re- 

 ports Dec. 2nd an American Magpie 

 found dead at that place in one of his 

 traps, also a Whippoorwill, with two 

 fresh eggs at that point June 22nd, 

 1921. 



THE STORY OF A ROBIN 



Last spring, on April 15th, I drove 

 about eight miles north of Manchester 

 to collect a young pair of full grown 

 Great Horned Owls, I had heard were 

 in a certain woods up there. I took a 

 fellow with me to climb the tree that 

 was an expert telephone climber and 

 lucky I did for I was fortunate enough 

 (?) to step on a nail and it penetrated 

 through my shoe into the ball of my 

 foot just exactly three quarters of an 

 inch by actual measurement. I ran a 

 tooth pick into the hole where the nail 

 went in and we measured the distance 

 on the toothpick. Well, I was deter- 

 mined to get the Owls, so kept on and 

 finally located them in a burr oak 

 tree. About sixty feet up was the 

 nest and a hard climb, but up went 

 my much needed friend, a'nd as he got 

 near, out flew the two Owls. I limp- 

 ingly run them down and soon had 

 them in a sack. Now this don't sound 

 much like a story of a Robin, does it, 



