THE HAWKEYE ORNITHOLOGIST AND OOLOGIST. 



A FEW SUGGESTIONS TO ORNI- 

 THOLOGISTS AND OOLOGISTS. 



BY "SCOLOPAX. 



fHE writer of this article has seriously 

 thought for some time of writing a 

 few suggestions to the many readers of the 

 O. and O. These thoughts may not be ap- 

 preciated by the large majority; and many 

 will say that it is not our right to give di- 

 rections to collectors, and that they are 

 quite capable of collecting according to 

 their own rules. Did you ever think what 

 a man's rules or methods of collecting and 

 forming a cabinet are? Let lis discuss this 

 point. A boy, and the readers of the O. 

 and O. are largely boys I doubt not, is 

 sure to collect just as he sees fit; and will 

 often go on destroying specimens, killing 

 unnecessarily, doing many foolish and even 

 bad acts year after year; whereas, if he had 

 proper instruction, be would be a success as 

 a collector as well as, in all probability, a 

 thorough ornithologist, capable of advanc- 

 ing the science. 



All the sciences have advanced wonder- 

 fully within the last few decades; and now, 

 with improved facilities, all classes of speci- 

 mens are preserved with a much more nat- 

 ural appearance than formerly. Taxidermy 

 and the preparation of eggs have become 

 perfections in the hands of many; yet the 

 large majority of skins, taking them . as a 

 whole are worthless. This results, not as 

 generally supposed, from the inability of a 

 man to make a good skin, but rather from 

 lack of energy. People do not stick to it 

 long enough to learn ; and further, many 

 skins are make when a collector is very 

 busy and only puts a limited time on each 

 bird. This is all wrong; no one has any 

 business or right to ruthlessly slaughter our 

 innocent birds unless he is amply provided 

 with means of preservation, and has time to 



attend to them fully 



I killed birds and many other animals 

 thoughtlessly when first beginning the 

 study; they were never killed maliciously — 

 the thought was abhorrent to me. I have 

 never cared to associate with those who kill 

 everything for the mere sport of killing and 

 burning powder. I have seen sportsmen 

 who, in order to test a gun's quality, would 

 kill a large number of little birds, laughing 

 as they fell, forgetting where they dropped 

 the next minute; the brutal gunner passes 

 on, remarking how he knocked them over. 

 A man of this nature belongs to that class 

 who see no beauty in our feathered friends, 

 and only consider them in the line of sport. 

 Verily, the line of demarcation is wide if 

 drawn between what should be a thorough, 

 high standing ornithologist and many of 

 our so-called sportsmen. They had better 

 be classed as sporting men and stand rank 

 and file with pugilists, cock fighters, and 

 others of that ilk. 



Boys, kill what birds you need and can 

 make good use of — there cease, Let your 

 cabinets contain good evidence of hard 

 work and thoughtful study. Spend time 

 on each skin, time without limit if necessa- 

 ry, and you will never be sorry, for '"a 

 thing of beauty is a joy forever." If your 

 skins are a poor lot, when you see a neat 

 cabinet you will become disgusted with your 

 own specimens and perhaps lose all inter- 

 est, and it will be well if yon do unless you 

 strike out for a grand improvement. Do 

 not throw away your old skins however, 

 but save for study as a reminder of your 

 early efforts. The writer committed many 

 indiscretions when first collecting, and was 

 a most stupid fellow in regard to bird skin- 

 ning, but ambition to succeed and plenty of 

 birds to skin carried us through; and now, 

 after years of practice, some fair skins may 

 be found in my cabinet, Readers, you 

 may laugh, but we are through tiying to 



