Lancaster, Mass 
June 7th, 1902. 
Dear Mr.Bigelow, 
Your mother will, no doubt, have told 
you of the correspondence I had with her last winter about Mr. Howe’s 
work on the bird collection, and Mr. Howe writes me that he is to see 
you about it as soon as you get back. He wishes me to send either to 
you or to him a list of the mistakes which I have discovered in order 
that he may rectify them before leaving Cambridge for the summer. I 
have replied that I think it better for you and him to meet me at the 
Museum so that we can look over the collection together and decide what 
is best to be done. I have suggested the forenoon of June 12th, as the 
time for this meeting as that is almost the only day of this month when 
I can visit Cambridge, although I might perhaps arrange to go there on 
the 20th or 21st, if the 12th will not suit your convenience. 
Mr. Howe seems to think that the mistakes of identification 
which ho has made are of trifling im-portance and that many of them 
relate to matters covering which ornithologists may hold different 
opinions, but some of them which I have noticed are really inexcusable 
on the part of one who has been supposed to possess a fair technical kn 
knowledge of North American birds and this fact, taken in connection 
with the large number of mistakes (upwards of thirty, if I remember 
rightly) which I found in looking through only ten or a dozen of the 
trays, has led me to fear that more or less similar errors will be 
brought to light when the whole collection is critically examined. 
