110 
American Association of Museums 
of the pulpboard bottom produces least ruffling of the feathers and 
facilitates handling of bird skins en masse. Bird skins in long series 
may be lifted and transferred easily by the use of a thin, limber piece 
of cardboard which can be slid under the mass of skins with very little 
disturbance of their relative positions. In a surprisingly few minutes, 
when it becomes necessary, a whole case of birds such as warblers, 
numbering 2000 or more, may be moved from one set of trays to 
another. The only conditions under which a tray lining seems to 
me desirable is when greasy bird skins are to be housed; then a layer 
of blotting paper beneath the affected specimens is useful to prevent 
the oil from being absorbed by the tray bottom. 
A very important item to my mind is the position in which the bird 
skins are laid upon each tray. The head should be directed to 
the left so that the label extends straight out to the right, and reads 
right side up. A series of skins thus lies in fore-and-aft rows in the 
tray. As the tray is slid in and out of the case the inevitable resulting 
momentum tends to slide the skins so that they press upon one another 
sideways. I know that custom in some other museums prescribes 
that the birds shall be arranged in series crossways of the trays, the 
heads pointing away from the case door. Where the trays are then 
handled by any but the most careful attendant, there is more or less 
excessive motion, and this is bound to produce a sliding of the birds 
toward the back end of the tray, the heads of one row crowding into 
the tails of the next, thus causing a serious disarrangement of the 
plumage. This is minimized by the method of arrangement we have 
adopted, as just indicated. Incidentally, we have printed and con¬ 
spicuously displayed upon the front of several of the trays in each 
case: “Handle trays gently. Slide the trays slowly so as not to dis¬ 
arrange contents.” We believe this admonition is heeded at least 
occasionally, often enough to make it worth while! In our own insti¬ 
tution (and it seems to me this should be the case everywhere) our 
cases of study skins are available to be opened and inspected by the 
university student and by practically everyone else who declares 
special interest in inspecting their contents. It is true that we dis¬ 
courage casual visitors from looking at the study series, and to meet 
the usual needs of beginners, or such casual inquirers, we have a sepa¬ 
rate case containing a selection of study skins representing the local 
species. This is usually sufficient to absorb the time and interest of 
the non-technical visitor. 
Let me take this opportunity to urge the value of collections of 
