FRANK L. BURNS, In Oberlin _Bulletin_.
Before we enter upon another active campaign of bird-nesting, it is
fitting that we should pause a moment to reflect upon the true aim of
our toil, risks, and trouble, as well as delight and recreation. How
many of us can define the phrase "collecting for scientific purposes,"
which, like liberty, is the excuse for many crimes?
If it is true, as has been asserted, that oology as a scientific study
has been a disappointment, I am convinced that it is not on account
of its limited possibilities, but simply because the average oologist
devotes so much time to the collection and bartering of specimens that
no time is left for the actual study of the accumulating shells. In
other words, he frequently undertakes a journey without aim or object.
The oologist has done much toward clearing up the life-history of
many of our birds, but as observations of this nature can often be
accomplished without the breaking up of the home of the parent bird,
it alone will not suffice as an excuse for indiscriminate collecting.
After preparing the specimen for the cabinet his responsibility does
not end but only begins. A failure to add something to the general
knowledge is robbing the public as well as the birds. He who talks
fluently of the enforcement of strict laws for the preservation of our
wild birds, their nests and eggs, and fails to protect and encourage
those about his premises, falls short of his duty; and if his cabinet
contains bird skins or egg shells which might just as well have
remained where Nature placed them, he is inconsistent, demanding that
others abstain that he may indulge.
In conclusion I would say that when an oologist constantly keeps in
mind and acts under the assumption that the birds are his best friends
and not his deadly enemies, he cannot go far wrong, and the means he
employs will be justified in the light of subsequent study and research
of data and specimens. If any of us fall short in this we have only
ourselves to blame. Let us then collect with moderation and fewer eggs
and more notes be the order of the day.
[Illustration: BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER.
Life-size.
FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.
6-99
COPYRIGHT 1899,
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]