WJuit constitutes a Museum Collection of Birds ? 151 



For artists and photographers., similar facilities should be 

 provided., and, to supply the special needs of the former, 

 anatomical preparations, spread wings, casts, etc., should be 

 accessible. 



Popular Collections. 



Long-continued observation forces the conclusion that how- 

 ever well we may have met the wants of those in quest of 

 ornithological lore through the display of collections similar to 

 those above outlined, we are still very far from bringing to the 

 public at large any conception of the scientific, economic, and 

 aesthetic value of birds. 



A discouragingly large proportion of the visitors to our 

 exhibition halls wander aimlessly past systematic or faunal 

 collections, and, with interest una wakened, leave them after a 

 superficial inspection which has profited them little, if at all. 



It is not to be expected that we shall make ornithologists 

 of every sightseer, but beyond question there are facts in 

 connection with the life of birds which, if properly presented, 

 would claim the attention of the least observant. 



The expression " life of birds " possesses here a special 

 significance, for it is, of course, the living, not the dead, bird 

 which makes its appeal to the eye and ear. However well, 

 therefore, our systematic and faunal collections may serve 

 their ends, they assuredly have conveyed no impression of the 

 bird as the most eloquent expression of Nature's beauty, joy, 

 and freedom, of the bird's intelligence or economic importance, 

 and they are, therefore, far from representing the value of 

 birds to man or the possibilities of bird study. 



One of the essentials, then, of an exhibition collection of 

 birds is that it contain features which shall not only force 

 the attention of the casual visitor, but that their influence 

 shall spread beyond the Museum walls and induce the presence 

 of those whose interest has been aroused by a description of 

 their attractions. 



In practice it has proved possible to achieve this result 

 by appealing to the objectless public through the universal 

 love of the beautiful : not by the display of cases of gaudily 

 coloured birds, but by carefully planned and executed groups 



