This volume examines the history and uses of bird skin collections and the explorers involved in their development. It covers all parts of the world, with particular focus on Europe, the USA and Africa.
A patchy archive of hallucinatory field notes, dictionary definitions from inside a dream, and diary entries from an alternate history. This collection of strange poems maintains both excitement and melancholy like the two-edged blade of a letter opener.
A historian once said of Theodore Roosevelt's education that it had been "the best kind, for he was both teacher and pupil." by the time he went to Harvard, he had preserved several hundred birds for a collection. How did he become an accomplished scientist at a young age? He: --was curious, always wanting to know more and find out the "why" of things. --learned from playing: imitating animal sounds and habits and making up his own games. --looked up to mentors, including his father, uncles, and a companion of Audubon's. --read deeply from fiction and nonfiction. --continually made observations, filling diaries and notebooks with charts and essays. --sketched nature in letters and notebooks. --took risks, ready to pay the piper if he thought something was worthwhile. --customized learning to his own needs, starting a natural history museum at home when he was eight and inventing a code for bird songs. --studied the real thing, with "being there" experiences in the outdoors. --shared information with family and friends. Look for more in this book, and get to know a unique boy who still inspires others today.
Excerpt from Visitors Guide to the Local Collection of Birds in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City: With an Annotated List of the Birds Known to Occur Within Fifty Miles of New York City The collection this Guide is intended to accompany has been formed especially to aid students in identifying the birds found in the vicinity of New York City. It occupies Cases S and T, in the north wing, at the southwest corner -of the gallery devoted to North American birds. With a few exceptions all the speci mens contained in it were collected within 50 miles of New York City. The species which we have as yet been unable to secure within these limits are represented temporarily by specimens from the North American collection. The collection of Water Birds 'is for the present restricted to summer resident species. So large a proportion of North American Water Birds are found near New York City, that a local collection of them would to a great extent duplicate the North American collection displayed on the opposite side of the gallery. Species of accidental occurrence, or those which have been found in this vicinity but once or twice, are also excluded from the collection. Their presence would only tend to confuse the student and be apt to give him an erroneous idea of the bird's range. The birds are labeled in accordance with the system of nomenclature adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union. The number preceding the name of each species is its permanent number in the Union's 'check-l'ist' of North American birds. In the Guide this number follows the name of the species. The birds are placed in the cases in a continuous numerical series and any desired specimen may thus be readily found by its number. As a matter of local interest an asterisk has been placed before those species which have been observed in Central Park. In the alcove between Cases B and C, in the main bird-hall, will be found a local collection of the nests and eggs of the birds_4. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
"Warriors, Dilettantes & Businessmen focuses on the activities of collectors of bird specimens in southern Africa and their contribution to southern African ornithology. It also covers some of the history and the development of ornithology as a science in southern Africa."--Back cover.
From emperor penguins nesting in the frozen reaches of Antartica to peregrine falcons that have made themselves at home among urban skyscrapers, birds are amazingly adaptable. The Bird Class surveys the many orders and families of living birds and traces the origins of these winged, feathered marvels. Bird biology, life cycles, behavior, and habitats are also explored. The Bird Class sounds a warning about the threats that many of the world's ten thousand bird species now face, and describes some of the actions being taken to protect them. Book jacket.
On a weather-beaten island in Maine, a birder and WWII vet confronts his past in this “atmospheric and engrossing” novel (People). After a recent leg amputation, ornithologist and World War II veteran Jim Kennoway retreats to an island in Penobscot Bay, off the coast of Maine. All he wants is to drink, smoke, and be left alone. From his perch, he listens for birdcalls and thinks back on his youth, his romance with his now deceased wife, his work for the American Museum of Natural History, and earlier, for Naval Intelligence in the South Pacific. Thirty years ago, while stationed in the Solomon Islands, Jim befriended Tosca, a young islander who worked with him as a scout. Now Tosca has sent his daughter to stay with Jim before she begins premedical studies at Yale. She arrives to Jim’s consternation, bringing with her a flood of troubling memories. Yet she will capture his heart and that of everyone she meets, irrevocably changing their lives. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction, Alice Greenway’s second novel is “a beautiful, ultimately painful story as haunting as its settings” (Publishers Weekly).
Excerpt from Instructions for Collectors: No; 2 Birds and Their Eggs A Little patience and a little practice are all that is required to make a good skin of a bird. Also it should be remembered that no more time is wanted to make a good skin than a bad one. Thus it should be the aim of every naturalist to attain perfection in the art of preparing specimens; and, after all, this is very easy. Tools. - The skinning of a bird demands but few tools. Many collectors require a penknife only; but the tyro should be provided at least with a sharp knife or scalpel, a pair of stout nail-scissors, as well as some arsenical soap, bleached wool, tow, and a sharp-pointed awl or darning-needle. The knife is needed for making the first incision, and it is useful for scraping off fat from the skin. The nail-scissors are wanted for cutting through the flesh, and severing the tendons and the bones at their joints. The awl or darning-needle is useful for re-arranging disordered plumage. Preservatives, etc. - Arsenical soap is the best preservative for general use, as skins dressed with it retain much of their natural elasticity, and can at any time be mounted. Powdered arsenic is largely used, especially by American naturalists, and is useful in a damp climate, as it dries the skins quickly. The disadvantages of employing it are, firstly, the danger in carrying it about, and secondly, that specimens so preserved become shrunken and brittle, and are never so easy to mount. Alum and pepper do not keep off the attacks of moths and beetles, and for various reasons are not to be recommended. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.