THE OOLOGISt ^^( ^^ 



53 



Nest of Thick-billed Grebe on Horricon Marsh, Wis. 



"Are we playing fair to our fellow col- 

 lectors when we send out our sets, 

 labeled: taken by so and so, on sucb 

 a date, etc., and leave many a square 

 inch of good blank paper go begging 

 (and paper high priced at that), not 

 for lack of good solid information to 

 put upon it, but (and here I am forced 

 to be candid,) from pure carelessness, 

 if not indifference. 



I grant that the identity is para- 

 mount, and the date and locality next 

 so; but to say that the eggs were 

 taken on May 1st and were heavily 

 incubated, means little to the man 

 thousands of miles away, unless he 

 knows the ordinary and usual date of 

 nesting. Only then will he be able to 



make comparison and say, "This is 

 an early set, or vice versa." You may 

 ansv/er in rebuttal, "Read the books," 

 but think how much more interesting, 

 and personal, is your first hand in- 

 formation, and how much more oppor- 

 tunity^ is given for comparative work, 

 when a set from one section gives the 

 date, and in addition the earliest and 

 latest dates for that locality. 



Only a short while ago I received 

 a small series of eggs of the various 

 species of albatross', king penguin, 

 giant fulmar, and etc. These eggs 

 came from places, whose very names 

 spell romance and adventure. They 

 conjure up visions of wild storm-bound 

 coasts and islands; great continents. 



