THE SECRETARY, 1878-1887 407 
His sister, Mrs. Mary D. Biddle, uncertain what course 
to pursue in connection with her boy’s desire to collect 
birds’ eggs, wrote to him for advice. His reply follows: 
From Spencer F. Baird to his sister, Mrs. Mary D. Biddle. 
Woon’s Hote, Mass., 
July 14, 1887. 
Dear Mo.iy:— 
Tom misunderstands my position in regard to bird nesting. When 
I was in the business, I was collecting material for an exhaustive 
work on the natural history of the birds of North America and a 
set of nests and eggs of each species in all variations was a necessity. 
I consequently needed to have as large a variety as possible, so as 
to cover the ground. The ordinary bird-egging boy, however, whose 
enterprise is not to be frowned at, is not such an individual. He 
simply wants to make a collection of eggs without an ulterior scien- 
tific object. A single egg will answer the same purpose in his case 
as the hundred required in the one first mentioned. Unless you have 
an embryo Audubon with a decided scientific object likely to be 
carried out, I would frown upon anything more than the taking of 
a single egg from the nest, and this should be approached with the 
greatest caution, and the egg taken should be removed with a spoon. 
By taking out an egg with a spoon, the other eggs are not so likely 
to be contaminated. The parent bird detects the touch of human 
fingers and abandons the nest immediately. 
I am inclined to ascribe the reduction in the number of our home 
birds as much to the taking of eggs for various purposes, or driving 
away the parents, as to the actual extermination of the birds them- 
selves. However, the most effective way of preventing the difficulty 
is by prohibiting the taking of eggs entirely which I would earnestly 
recommend. 
S. F. Barrp. 
This biographer in describing those last days prefers 
to avail himself of the eloquent words, spoken by Major 
3 This (dictated) letter is the last signed by Professor Baird before 
his death. 
