beg them, pray for them, or, if need be, exchange for them. Worst of all, if we have 

 to, we will figure on buying them. But remember, please, if you think you have to have 

 the money, that somebody has to dig it up. That isn't as easy as it looks, and it makes 

 the upbuilding of a museum just three times more difficult. For somebody has to earn 

 the money, and somebody has to beg it. True, Mr. Collector, you have done the work, 

 but also you have had the fun. And when you have given the product of your whole- 

 some activities afield to the Museum of Comparative Oology, you have the solid satis- 

 faction of knowing that you have put it where it will do the most good. There is noth- 

 ing to say beyond that, either by way of satisfaction or justification. 



But that is only half, or less than half, of the problem of getting. The larger part 

 of the material acquired by the M. C. O. must be secured through the efforts of its own 

 workers afield. Field collecting is the first, if not the final, function of the M. C. O. 

 Consider a moment what this means. It means, first of all, that the work we are intend- 

 ing to do has not been done and is not being done elsewhere. Putting false modesty 

 aside, it means that unless we were specialists in this field, the task would not have been 

 entrusted to us. It means that the vision has come to us because the thing is not being 

 done quite to our satisfaction, or according to our standards, elsewhere. That is the 

 basis of any forward-looking movement. And that is precisely the concession we are 

 willing to make to the other fellow in his province. You want to build better bridges, 

 or bigger ships, or better poems, or better laws? Good! Then that's your job, and 

 we'll help. By the same token, we want to build up the best collection of birds' nests 

 and the most significant collection of birds' eggs in the world. That's our job, and we've 

 got to do it ourselves. We'll accept any help we can get, but we're not going to lie 

 down and let the other fellow do the work. The collecting of nests uniquely beautiful, 

 the preparation of birds' eggs which the other fellow may have overlooked, the obser- 

 vation of significant events afield, the interpretation of significant facts in the breeding 

 cycle of birds, that is our continuing task. In its prosecution and in its supervision we 

 expect to spend thousands, yes, tens of thousands of dollars, and we hope and expect to 

 pass our work on to able and trained successors. 



The care and keeping of a collection of birds' eggs imposes as severe exactions 

 upon patience, ingenuity, and fidelity, as any task in natural science. In addition to the 

 infinite detail of marking, cataloging and arranging, there are special exactions con- 

 nected with the egg itself. Among these, the paramount requirement is preservation 

 from light. The delicate tints of birds' eggs are susceptible to fading in every degree. 

 A few hours exposure to the light will change green to blue, or pale blue to white; while 

 continuous exposure will bleach any collection of eggs, no matter how strongly pig- 

 mented, to an inane whiteness. The first requirement, then, is cabinets from which 



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One of the Duck Drawers: Case XII, 21, Annex 



Page seventeen 



