quarter that size which stresses one single point, as variable size within the set, 

 albinism, incipient spotting, o even the range of variation of a single species, may 

 command and deserve the attention of the co lecting world. Its value as a 

 specialty, moreover, consists in the attentive appreciation of the world's con- 

 noisseurs. If that is a stake worth playing for, if hat is an interest worth serving, 

 then the applause of the village may have to be forfeited in order to secure it. 

 The real values, the permanent values, the world values, in oological collecting, 

 as in every other line of effort, lie in the doing of one or two or many things better 

 than any one else anywhere has ever done them before. Granted a world audi- 

 ence and the intelligent appreciation of connoisseurs, it is worth while to do these 

 things, even though a man render himself thereby perfectly unintelligible to his 

 fellow villagers. In specialization and in the fashion of its rewards lies the differ- 

 ence between provincialism and cosmopolitanism, or more widely, between 

 semi-civilization and enlightenment. 



NESTING BOXES AS A HELP FOR A COLLECTOR OF BIRDS EGGS 



By J. K. Jensen, Santa Fe, Mexico. 



About 25 years ago, when still a young and green but enthusiastic collector 

 of birds' eggs, my collection, although small, represented a good many species. 

 It was, however, almost entirely devoid of eggs of birds nesting in cavities or 

 holes in trees, even those of very common species. An old collector friend of mine, 

 to whom I mentioned this, suggested that I use nesting boxes and thus, by what 

 I still believe is taking an unfair advantage of the birds, collecting sets deposited 

 in these boxes. I acted upon his advice, and have been able to collect a good 

 many sets of eggs, which I hardly would have been able to take in any other way. 



As early as 1894, I made my first experiments in this line. My home was 

 then in Denmark, so, naturally, the first species collected were eggs of European 

 birds. The Danish farmers had for years been wont to supply nesting boxes for 

 the European Starling, this bird being strictly protected and very beneficial to 

 farming. I soon discovered that by making boxes of different sizes and shapes, 

 it was possible to attract almost all kinds of cavity-nesting birds, and I have there 

 seen the following birds taking advantage of the nesting boxes offered: Wryneck, 

 Swift, Gray, and Spotted Flycatchers, Starling, Jackdaw, European Tree Sparrow, 

 Great, and Blue, and Swamp Titmice. Of course about one half of the boxes 

 were taken by the House Sparrow. 



In 1904, I settled in Boston, Mass., or rather, Westwood, Mass., ten miles 

 south of Boston. Here I found from my own experience, that the Screech Owl, 

 Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, Crested Flycatcher, Bluebird, 

 Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch and House Wren are willing to accept 

 nesting boxes; and I believe that the only record of the Red-breasted Nuthatch 

 nesting in a box was made in Dover, Massachusetts, about three miles from my 

 home (by Mr. Edward Howe Forbush, State Ornithologist). 



I spent the seasons of 1916-1917 at Wahpeton, North Dakota. There 

 I had about the same species of birds to deal with as in Massachusetts. The 

 Western House Wren was exceptionally common. In May, 1917, I set up ten 

 Wren boxes; and eight were occupied by Wrens. The Purp'e Martin was nesting 

 very abundantly in the cornices of the buildings in town, places where I could not 

 collect the eggs. I placed some boxes on telephone poles, from which I eventually 

 took as many sets as I needed. The Martins would use every suitable box if 

 placed on a pole, but would not go near a like box if it was nailed on the side of a 

 building. 



The American Sparrow Hawk, another bird new to my collection, was 

 fairly common. I made two boxes, one of which I placed on a telephone pole 

 near my home. A pair of Sparrow Hawks inspected the box and decided to use 

 it, but some laborers went to work repairing the road close to the box, and this 



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