The IIawkeye Okm i •iioi.ocjls r and (Jul. 



9 





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Fur tlie Hawkeye 0. and 0. 

 A FEW WORDS FROM AN OLD 

 COLLECTOR. 



BY E. G. WARD. THREE RIVERS, MASS. 



It is surprising to note what 

 changes have taken place in the 

 methods of collecting eggs among 

 amateurs since we first commenced 

 our little collection more than twenty 

 years ago. We commenced by get- 

 ting two eggs of a kind, and, with a 

 few exceptions, have always followed 

 that rule. We think that is a suf- 

 ficient number for the average collec- 

 tor. The new craze is to collect in 

 sets, which is all right where they are 

 collected in the interests of science, 

 but young collectors who wish a set 

 for themselves and have a dozen or 

 more sets of the same kind for their 

 exchanges, make it look too much 

 like wholesale robbery of the birds. 

 No wonder some states have made 

 laws forbidding collecting eggs and 

 shooting certain kinds of birds. 

 Massachusetts has such a law, but 

 she has kindly made provision for 

 those collecting in the interesc of 

 science. The teachers in our public 

 schools are calling the attention of 

 their pupils to that law, and encour- 

 aging them to protect the birds and 

 their nests. This is a necessity, for 

 birds are not as plenty as they were 

 a few years a^o, and many kinds 

 which were quite common then, are 

 either very rarely seen, or have en- 

 tirely disappeared from certain lo- 

 calities; for instance, in Franklin 

 count}', Mass., our old home, the 

 meadow larks were quite plenty a 

 few years since, and it was an easy 

 matter to find several nests during 

 the nesting season; now we haven't 

 seen or heard of one being seen for 

 several years. The bobolinks also 



are few in numbers compared with 

 those early days, and it is quite diffi- 

 cult to find a nest. The same is true 

 of the yellow-birds, partridge wood- 

 peckers, least flycatchers, etc. We 

 use the common local names because 

 they recall old times and bring more 

 vividly to our minds certain very in- 

 teresting excursions after eggs in 

 which we had the satisfaction of add- 

 ing certain desirable specimens to 

 our collection. 



Now, what causes the scarcity of 

 birds or the disappearance of certain 

 species from certain localities? Do 

 they move from place to place on ac- 

 count of the scarcity of food like the 

 squrirels? Is it owing to climatic 

 changes? These are questions that 

 naturally arise in the mind of the 

 keen observer. We think all of these 

 have a bearing, and to these we can 

 add the mowing machine and horse- 

 rake, which have something to do 

 with thinning out, if not in driving 

 back, into wilder portions of our 

 towns and counties, those birds that 

 nest on the ground. These causes 

 taken in connection with the depre- 

 dations made by their natural ene- 

 mies, the foxes, cats, snakes, hawks, 

 etc., have caused the scarcity of 

 ground nesting birds. The English 

 sparrow, an imported nuisance, is 

 driving away from our cities and vil- 

 lages some of our most desirable 

 feathered songsters. New England 

 is subject to so many extremes in 

 temperature, especially in spring, 

 that some seasons the birds com- 

 mence to nest so early that their eggs 

 or young broods are destroyed. 



The hunter is almost wholly re- 

 sponsible for the scarcity of our game 

 birds. To these causes we may add 

 the collector of "sets'' who sees 

 nothing but the Almighty dollar. 

 This class who collect simply to 

 make money out of the birds, bring 

 reproach upon that class who love 



