42 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
headed woodpecker, but some individu¬ 
als of which may be found in the region, 
at any time and (c) the ordinary migra¬ 
tory species. These latter are moved 
twice a month to show each birds’ posi¬ 
tion relative to the region. For example 
the Blackburnian warbler will from Jan¬ 
uary to April 15th appear in a division 
marked “Now south of this region” 
while from that date to the end of May 
it will be in a division marked “Now 
present in this region,” during Septem¬ 
ber it will again occupy the “present” 
division after which it will take its place 
among the “south” birds. 
The labels on these birds give an epit¬ 
ome of their geographical distribution, 
indicate the character of country (woods, 
swamps, upland fields, etc.,)in which 
they are to be looked for in our region, 
give the food of the bird, which as far as 
possible is taken from stomach examina¬ 
tions, and if the bird breeds in our 
region the usual placement of the nest 
and number of eggs laid is also stated. 
Near this collection is placed a map of 
the region covered and also a reading 
table on which are four or five of the 
best works treating of the birds of the 
eastern United States. This collection 
is the objective point of many local bird 
students when they come to the museum. 
Sixth. Is an attempt to tell as much 
about a particular bird of our region can 
be objectively shown in a fixed exhibit. 
To do this we select the home life of the 
bird, its nest with young, and show the 
feeding of these, the adaptation of the 
nest to its site, the protective coloration 
of many of the female birds and other 
points of note and thereby create an in¬ 
terest in the family group which we hope 
works for the protection of the bird. 
These groups are made with scrupulous 
care not to introduce a plant or object 
that was not there when the group was 
taken. They are all environmental— 
that is, they exhibit the surroundings of 
the home whether a tree top, hollow 
trunk, eaves of a barn or on the ground. 
The labels accompanying these groups 
often consist of a couple of hundred 
words and give an epitome of the life 
histories of the birds and call attention 
to points of structure or adaptations that 
are noteworthy. Other similar groups 
show the nest with eggs instead of young. 
One of these groups combines two spe¬ 
cies of birds shown by eighty-six indi¬ 
viduals comprising several families of 
both and so is somewhat intermediate 
between this and the next division. It 
represents a nesting site of the herring 
gull and Caspian Tern on a little island 
near Death’s Door, at the end of the Door 
County peninsula. This is a truthful 
representation of a portion of the colony 
as found in 1905. The case is sixteen 
feet front bv seven feet in depth but as 
the back is an oil painting executed from 
photographs taken on the spot and blends 
excellently with the foreground the effect 
is of a much larger section of the colony 
than could be contained in the case. 
The gulls are all mounted from photo¬ 
graphs taken from a blind in the midst 
of the colony when the birds were abso¬ 
lutely unaware of any intrusion and so 
were as much at ease as though no one 
was within miles of them. Some pecul¬ 
iar habits previously unrecorded and 
presumably unknown are shown in the 
group. 
Perhaps it is as well to include in this 
division various other groups as great 
blue herons, white pelicans, etc., that 
give some information as to the life of 
Continued on page 47. 
