The Principal Aims of Modem Ornithology. 267 



of many forms which have eastern and western represen- 

 tatives ; that the detailed distribution of many birds in 

 France is unknown ; that our knowledge of Spanish Orni- 

 thology is as yet imperfect, etc., etc. With regard to 

 labelling', it is most important that more care should be 

 bestowed on this. How often do we receive birds with a verbal 

 or written statement that they " come from " such and such a 

 place, and how often do we find that such information is 

 imperfect or erroneous, leading to very wrong assumptions 

 and harmful conclusions. One specimen from a hundred, or 

 more, may have been shot elsewhere, and just that one is 

 sure to be of great importance. I have had some wonderful 

 experience in this sort of thing, and I feel uneasy, if I do 

 not actually distrust, over every locality given by verbal or 

 written declaration, unless the birds bear a label, firmly 

 attached to the legs, stating exact locality, date, name of 

 collector, and, if possible, other details. It is pitiable to see 

 how unsuitable, how large, heavy, clumsy, or, in other cases, 

 how small, with insufficient room to write on, or of what 

 perishable material labels are made, with what bad ink they are 

 written, or how otherwise objectionable they frequently are. 

 But, however bad they may be, however disgusting they may 

 seem, they should be treated as if they were sacred, because they, 

 and they alone, are the proof that a given specimen genuinely 

 comes from that and that place. In a scientific collection — 

 and collections should be made for scientific purposes — an 

 original label should never be removed for any reason what- 

 ever. It is time that museum authorities should realise this, 

 and that they should strictly enforce on their staff the iron 

 rule that no label must ever be removed or replaced, and that 

 the deplorable state existing in many large and celebrated 

 museums ceases for ever. A copied label is always open to 

 doubt. 



Another thing which is much neglected is the " make " of 

 a skin. Most persons can learn to make a good skin, and 

 not only is it disgusting to see ugly made and distorted skins, 

 but good and uniformly made skins show differences much 

 easier and better, and are, therefore, a great advantage to 

 scientific work. One more word about collections in museums ; 



