Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-01-05
THE STUDY OF BIRDS.
a VALUABLE COLLECTION GIVEN TO
HARVARD COLLEGE.


Upon Birds of Environment
One of the most valuable additions which
has ever been made to the Agassiz Mu-
scum of Comparative Zoology at Cam
bridge is a collection of 900 birds-made
by Mr.. w. Il. ID. Scott-from the United
States and West Indies. About 100 of
these are mounted, the remainder being
in the form technically known to natural
lists as bird skins-that is, they look sim
ply like dead birds that can be mounted
at any time. Ever since Mr.. Scott grad
uated from Harvard college in 1873 this
plan of making an ornithological collec
ton has been the great object of his life,
and to give this collection to the Agassiz
museum has been his desire, which is now
accomplished.
Mr. Scott is, through his writings, one
of the best known collectors of birds in the
world lie was one of the original mem
bers of the Nutal club of Cambridge. and
his first paper before that society, entitled
IA Partial List of the Summer Birds of
Kanawha County, was the first of the
series which are now regularly published
by the society. His first work, and one
that attracted attention in the whole or
astrological world, as well as the atten
ton of astronomers, was brought about
by what seems now to be u singular coin
cidence. Happening to be at one time in
the observatory connected with Princeton
college. he was invited to look through
the telescope at the MOON While doing
so, he noticed what seemed to be mum
Der of small objects fitting across the lu-
minous disk. He asked what they were
and was infoImed that it was a common
occurrence to see these birds flying across
~ f.l
it, in fact, that the astronomers had paid
no attention to the matter, hut of course
such an occurrence invited the attention
of a man the main object of whose life was
the observance of every point pertaining
to birds and bird life.
He had heard time and again farmers and
backwoodsmen speak of the sound of birds
flying by night, and here was an actual
proof of the fact, as well as chance to
make mathematical calculation on the
subject, for, upon examination of the sub
ject, it was found that, given the focal
length of the lens and the other data
which the astronomer could furnish, the
fight of the birds could be determined
with some degree of accuracy. And not
only this but the kind of bird could be
determined, because, as every one knows,
each bird has its own peculiar method of
fight, which could readily be determined
against the bright disk of the moon through
telescope
The final result of this circumstance was
a paper upon the subject, which was trans
lated into nearly every modern language,
and this method is now known as the
"Scott method of determining the fight
of birds by night" So highly are Mr..
SCOTS opinions valued upon matters per-
Il I1,,ts
recently bought collection made by him,
of some $500 Florida birds, at his own
valuation, and without even seeing the
collection.
1t was here in Florida that the writer
met Mr.. Scott, surrounded by his collec-
lions and implements for stufiing and
keeping the birds For years Mr. Scott
has made as his speciality the study of
Florida birds and has been indefatgable
in his efforts to make his collection COM
plete. He has now removed them to his
home in POcantico Hills, n Y. The first
point which the visitor notices, on seeing
the collection, is the lifelike manner in
which the birds are mounted. Instead of
the conventional methods always en-
ployed heretofore by professional taXider-
mists, Mr.. Scott has brought out the pose
of the bird in actual life.
Nearly all collections of birds which
have so far been made have been built up
upon an absolutely systematic basis. In
the collection proposed for Harvard, the
birds are to be rendered as lifelke as pos
sible-tnat is to say, artistic-while Mt the
same time they shall lose nothing of their
scientific value. Heretofore the external
features of the bird have been shown with
the name attached to each specimen, indi-
trfr haa 'l.a h,,x
been displayed in rows, each one standing
on perch made from turned wood and
L shaped, either painted white or else made
of hard wood vanished. Such elethod
has always limited the position in which
the bird could be placed. The visitors to
museums have wondered why every bird
should be standing in just that particular
way, with both feet firHly planted upon
the perch, and looking for all the world as
If he were one of an army.
This is wholly artificial, and in contra
distinction to ii birds should be mounted
on simple, natural accessories. By such a
method the warbler or the wren should be
shown naturally balanced upon the sway
ing twig, and the woodpecker would be
clinging to the trunk of tree; the gullis
environment would be a bit of the sea
shore, artificially represented. So it will
be seen that the idea is for each bird to
give a glimpse of the environment in which
it lives. But these surroundings should
always be subordinate part of the eXhi-
bition, allowing the central figure of the
specimen to be the conspicuous object.
The second point to bring out in this
collection is the effect of physical environ
ment on such species as are now migratory
and range uninterruptedly over large geo
graphical areas. This is 60 be done in CON
nection with and by the aid of dagramat-
ic maps. To illustrate what is meant, the
common quail ranges from Massachusetts
to Florida and from the eastern coast to
Dakota. Sportsmen who kill this bird in
different parts of the country have fire.
quently asked if they are different birds
and why those found in different parts Of
the country are smaller or larger, darker
or lighter colored, as the case may be, at
the different points where they are en-
countered.
Now, in this collection it is proposed to
have series of quail, specimens of which
shall be taken from the different localities
mentioned aud brought together Boston
Herald.