144 F. M. Chapman : 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A MUSEUM COLLECTION OF 



BIRDS ? 



By Frank M. Chapman, 



Associate Curator of Ornithology and Mammalogy, American Museum of 

 Natural History, Neu- York City. 



In the absence of definite courses of bird study in most 

 institutions of learning, ornithology is largely a self-taught 

 science. Museum collections, therefore, particularly those 

 which are placed upon exhibition, occupy, from an educa- 

 tional standpoint, a position of peculiar importance. In a 

 sense, the Museum may become the student's ornithological 

 Alma Mater, as from exhibition halls he is brought in touch 

 with the laboratory, and avails himself of the instruction and 

 advice of the curators-in-charge. 



Consideration of the proper constitution of Museum col- 

 lections involves, of course, a discussion of the Museum's 

 relations with the public, and, so far as birds are concerned, 

 it seems eminently desirable to bring this subject to the 

 attention of a body containing so large a number of Museum - 

 representatives. It should not be supposed, however, that 

 the matter is of interest only to those who are officially 

 connected with Museums possessing collections of birds. 

 The Museimi Curator welcomes the co-operation of his 

 confrères, and is often dependent on the public for the 

 support that is essential to the realization of his plans. 



The growing number of ornithological text-books, far from 

 appeasing, increases the demand for a knowledge of birds, 

 and especially for that more solid kind of information to be 

 obtained from Museum collections. Such collections, we 

 know, may be classified according to the manner of their 

 preparation and disposition, as 



I. Research Collections, II. Exhibition Collections. 



RESEARCH COLLECTIONS. 



Before a gathering composed so largely of professional or- 

 nithologists, a statement of the character of a research 



