6 Birp KILLING IN ORNITHOLOGY. 
instance flying about outdoors, nevertheless more scientists than 
would readily admit it do approach their study with the as- 
sumption that within the species, subspecies, variety, type or col- 
lective bird-sort the particular bird is a mere instance whose 
sole standing is numerical. Just in so far as such a generico- 
specific bird-sort is the topic of our science, or as such a bird-sort 
enters into the definition of our topic, must the strictly logical 
scientist treat the instance, alive or dead, as merely an instance or 
unit, not in any wise qualitatively distinct from each and all other 
instances; whence, except for local scarcity-value in allits bearings, 
indifferent to the science so long as any other instances remain, alive 
or dead. Practically, indeed, the bird is better dead, inasmuch as 
all supposedly fixed or rigidly classifiable single characters by 
whose combination it is an instance of a permanently definable 
type are structural in the skeleton or in externals. Whence, alive 
or preferably dead, the instance is numerical only; and the 
number, unless it is very small, theoretically indifferent. And 
the type is exemplified almost indifferently whether by dead or 
living specimens. But I wish to point out, as is of course well 
known, that a perfectly strict type-science, to which life is neg- 
ligible and the number of iterations or instances indifferent, 
cannot even be rigidly stated without contradiction. Every bird 
has a scientifically characteristic or unique value, or is in the last 
resort an individual; and that value is different as between alive 
and dead. 
For, no value can be “merely numerical” in the sense that 
characteristics or qualities are indifferent to the distinction thus 
drawn between instances. A strictly qualitative (if compara- 
tively unimportant) difference exists between an instance of a 
type which contains 1000 and an instance of a type which con- 
tains roor1. In terms of type-character the value inherent to 
either and each one of only two known or demonstrable instances 
is the entire type-value, with the addition of a third it is 50% of 
the type-value; without either one of the two the entire type-value 
would be zero, as no sole bird can be a collective sort or type, not 
even by according him such “rank” in virtue of extreme abnor- 
mality of osseous structure, etc.; for such abnormality merely 
sums up a line of ancestral instances, thereby demonstrated and, 
