790 JOUBNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
Bird Collectors in India. 
{Editorial, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1.) 
Dr. C. B. Ticehurst writes : — 
With reference to the letter of Capt. Livesey quoted in your last editorial, 
and your remarks on his impossible scheme, I should like to say a few words. 
The impression given is that India is swarming with bird collectors, out to get 
any rare and beautiful plumaged bird they see. Broadly speaking, of course, 
there is no such thing as a rare bird, all being as common as Nature intended them 
to be, if looked for in their true habitation, that, however, is by the way. But 
where are aU these collectors Capt. Livesey complains about ? I should be glad to 
know as with so much yet remaining to do in India they should be encouraged. 
When I was in Sind I knew of three (besides myself) aU doing valuable work in 
parts little or not known, there may have been others I did not hear of, if so, they 
remain silent judging by the papers which have in the last few years appeared 
in the Journal. But since I left India, it appears, collectors have greatly in- 
creased in number, I rejoice to hear it, as doubtless now there will be no difficulty 
in obtaining desiderata which we in England are handicapped for the lack of ! 
If Capt. Livesey will give us a hst of collectors and their districts we can then 
inform them through the Journal what specimens are required thence for the 
British Museum, and the Curator of our Society could add his desiderata. 
Now as to his scheme, in the first place the Society surely has no power to 
prohibit “ the slaughter of rare and beautiful birds.” Tliis can only be done by 
an Act and the “ Prohibition of Export of Plumes Act ” gives protection against 
slaughter for trade purposes. Without a very wide and very special know- 
ledge of the whole of the birds of India, which no single man possesses, no one can 
lay down the law as to what should be the limits in collecting. Capt. Livesey 
suggests a typical series of skins of each species by which of course he must mean 
a series from the type locality, a very desirable object which neither the Bombay 
nor British Museum has attained as yet for every Indian species even. And 
what of races ? StiU less are these collections representative. 
To avoid collecting birds on the fringe of their ddstribution pre-supposes a pretty 
exact knowledge of the range of every species and race in India, and entails far 
more collecting yet ; the results when obtained would take the most skilled 
worker years to work out. No ! In my opinion Capt. Livesey has started at the 
wrong end and the required knowledge for his diagrams does not exist. As re- 
gards publication of diagrams, 12-15 quarterly, by the Society giving such in- 
formation as we possess up to date of geographic^ distribution, is it suggested 
that each Indian species should be put on one of these ? That is taking the num- 
ber as in the Fauna as 1617 (and it is many more now), is the work to be 
spread over 27 years, and who is to prepare this almost life’s work ? 
There is one suggestion, however, which I can find myself in agreement with 
and that is the pubhcation of a list of “wants”. I should not bother about 
“ do not wants ” as no well made skin with full data of practically any Indian 
bird from anywhere would ever figure among the “ do not wants ” at any 
Museum ; I should confine “ do not wants ” to scraps without data. I began a 
hst of “ wants ” last year with an appeal for nestlings of any Indian birds, a 
subject on which we know nothing (see B. N. H. S. J., XXVII, p. 931), an investi- 
gation any egg collector in India (and in my day they far out-numbered skin 
collectors) could help with, but up to date as a result I have received one specimen. 
I, and no doubt others, who work at the British Museum would send along 
fists of “ wants ” for various localities if there was any chance that the wants 
would be supplied. For example, certain birds are wanted, all common enough, 
from some locality between Benares and the Vindhya HiUs — say the area, Saugor- 
Jubbulpore-Ramnagar — as it was from this area Franklin described a good many 
