Vol.1925 XLII] I AHRENS,Bird Collection ofBerlin Museum. 241 the achievementsof the applicationof the principlesof the natural selectiveabsorption of RadiantEnergy., œ98Ainsley St., SturgeonCreek, and •78 St. Mary's Ave., Winnipeg,Man.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM. •

BY T. G. AHRENS.

Tn• ornithologicalcollection of the Berlin Museumof Natural Historyforms an integralpart of the collectionsof the University of Berlin. Whenthe University was founded in 1810the zoological collectionwas also started. The first curato• of the collection was Dr. Karl Illlger,an entomologistof Brunswick. The beginningof the ornithologicalcollection was very modestindeed, but soona considerableincrease could be noted. Peter SimonPallas (1741- 1811),donated his bird collectionsto the museum,some of which werefrom Transbaikalia, collected in 1772. Most of thespecimens aredescribedin his ' ZoographiaRosso-Asiatica.' A fewspecimens wereobtained during a journeywhich Pallas made to the Caucasus regionsin 1793, and somewere collectedby Dr. Merk in Kam- chatkaand Alaskain 1790. In the sameyear that the collection wasfounded it waslargely increased by CountJohann Centurius yon Hoffmannsegg,a well-informed zoologist who maintainedre- lations with a number of well-known travellers and savants. An- tonio Gomezcollected birds for him in 1802 in Bahia, and Franz Wilhelm Sicherin the state of Para. The latter returned to Europein 1810,and although Illlger devoted himself particularly to the birdsof South.Mnerica, his investigations were not pub- lishedowing to his death in 1813. Illiger's successoras director of the museumwas Dr. Heinrich Lichtenstein(1780-1857), then 33 yearsof age,a physicianby training who had been tutor in the familyof the governorof DutchSouth Africa for fiveyears and had returned to Europein • All the data in this paper were obtained from Dr. Erwin Streseman, Curator of the Bird Collectionin the Museumof Berlin, Read at the PittsburghMeeting of the A. O. U. 242 •s. BirdCollection ofBerlin Museum. LApri![Auk

1807. In 1810he receivedthe degreeof Ph.D. for zoology,became director of the Berlin in 1812 and after 1813 devotedall his energiesto the ZoologicalMuseum, which was openedto the publicin the summerof 1814. At that time it con- tained2000 birds,belonging to 900 species. Lichtensteinunder- stoodthe importanceof openingrelations everywhere and obtaining the cooperationof travellersand colonistsin all partsof the world. He wasin sharpcompetition with his friendTemminck, then cura- tor of the LeydenMuseum which, being the propertyof a colonial power,found it mucheasier to securematerial for its collections. In 1815 new specimensagain beganto arrive; at the outstart from Bahia, wherethe Frankfort naturalist,G. W. 17reyreiss,was working. Largely owing to his influencethe Potsdambotanist Friedrich Sellowwho was living in Brazil decidedin 1816 to offer his servicesto the Berlin Museum as a collector,and from 1817- 1831 he sent thousandsof bird skinsfrom all parts of Brazil to Berlin,many of whichwere new species.The expenseof his ex- peditions-24700 Thaler--was almostentirely coveredby the sale of duplicates. UnfortunatelySellow was drowned in 1831,but his namewill alwaysstand at the head of thosewho obtainedfame for the museum. In 1818 the number of personscollecting for the museumin- creasedto suchan extentthat a detailedchronological summary of their names must cease. After 1825,collections began to arrive from other neotropical countries. FerdinandDeppe who had accompaniedA. von Such to Mexico in 1825 made extensive collections there at that time and was sent again in 1829 to Central America. Somewhatlater Gustav Hueberlinaccompanied von Suchto Colombia,but died there in 1826after havingsent about 100 birdsto Berlin. In 1832,Meyen collectedin Chile, and after 1840Eunom Bern- hard Philippi worked for the museumin Peru and Chile, and from 1840-44 Richard Schomburgkcollected in British Guiana. Of all these various collections,only those of Schomburgkhave beenworked up, not by Lichtensteinwho rarely had time for such work, but by Jean Cabants,his assistant,who becamelater direc- tor of the ornithologicalcollection. Lichtenstelndevoted himself not only to America,but especially Vol.1925 XLII] I AHRENS,Bird Collection ofBerlin Museum. 243 to SouthAfrica with whichhe waspersonally acquainted. In 1820 he prevailedupon Ludwig Krebs, a Germansettler in Uitenhage near Port Elizabeth to collectfor him, and for twenty years,such a numberof specimenswere sent from CapeColony that mostof the natural history museumsof the world were suppliedwith duplicatesfrom Krebs' collections. In 1820, also, two young zoologists,Dr. Ehrenbergand Dr. Hemprich,started for a scientificexploration of the Nile region, an expeditionfinanced by the PrussianState. Hemprichdied of feverin Eritreain 1825after having made explorations with his colleaguein north-easternAfrica, Palestineand Syria, and as a resultof this expeditionmany hundredsof birds were sent to the Berlin Museum. Lichtenstein's connection with Dr. Eduard Eversmann, one of his former students,resulted in the receiptfrom Eversmannbe- tween1818 and 1822of specimensof birdsfrom the southernUral and all the zoologicalc611ections he had made on a journeyfrom Orenburgto Bokhara,a territoryat that timepractically unknown, The poetAdelbert yon Chamisso,who was also a naturalist,sent to the museumthe collectionof birdshe had made during his cir- cumnavigationof the globewith the expeditionunder the command of Admiral yon Kotzebue in 181,%1818. This collection is no• verylarge, but someof the seabirds from theisland of Unalaska (Aleutiangroup) and BeringSea were at that time unknown. The Berlin collectionsunder Lichtenstein'sdirection were open to all zoologistsin the mostliberal mannerand many tookadvan- tage of the opportunitiesoffered. In July 1846, Lichtenstein statesin a letter to a friend that the ornithologicalcollection of the museumat that time comprised10,500 specimensarranged in three largerooms 150 feet longand 60 feet wide. Lichtenstein,about this time beginningto feel the effectsof age, wasobliged to abandonmany of his plansana died in September 1857,during a journey'to Denmark,at the ageof 77. He wasable to showthat a poorcountry without colonies could establish and maintaina zoologicalmuseum of the highestclass. JeanCabanis (1816-1906) stands out as the centralfigure of the secondperiod of developmentof theBerlin bird collection. Gabanis had made a journeybetween 1830 and 1841 to SouthCarolina, 244 Asr•Ns,Bird Collection ofBerlin Museum. duringwhich time he had residedprincipally in the neighborhood of Charleston. In 1841 Lichtenstein called him as assistant to the Berlin Museum, to take chargeof the ornithologicaldepartment, whichhe directedtill 1892. Cabanls'influence upon the develop- ment of ornithologyis well knownto bird students. Like Lichten- stein he understoodthe importance of openingrelations with numerous travellers, who turned over their bird collections in part or entirelyto the Museum. ContinuingLichtensteln's work, Cabaals devoted himself at first principally to lgeotropicalorni- thology. Johann Jacob yon Tschudi and Richard Schomburgk sent him valuable collections from Peru and British Guiana in the 'forties;Dr. Gundlach,the famousexplorer of the Antilleswas in correspondencewith him subsequentto 1854, and valuablespeci- mens from Costa Rica were received from Dr. Alexander yon Frantzius about 1860. After 1878 Fritz Schulz collected for the museumin northern Argentina. Special scientificinterest at- taches to the collectionsmade by Carl Et•ler from 1867 onward, in the Cantagallodistrict, of thestate of Riode Janeiro, and also to the valuable specimensobtained by ConstantineJelski in western Peru, about 1873. But Cabanis did not confine his in- terest to the avifauna of any one region. Modern methods of specializationwere unknownto him and he devotedhimself with as muchenergy to Africanas to lgeotropicalornithology. As the foundingof the GermanEmpire createda desirefor colonies, severalexpeditions were sent to Africasubsequent to 1871to make commercial treaties and found settlements. Some of these ex- peditionswere accompaniedby enthusiasticnaturalists. In 1872-73 Anton Reichenow made a scientific expedition to the regionof the Gulf of Guineaand brought back the firstinformation of the birdsof the later Germancolony of Cameroon. In 1873was organizedthe first Germanexpedition to the Loangocoast, which wasaccompanied by Dr. Falkeusteinand Major yon Mechow, two travellerswhose names will always be connectedwith the explor- ation of the avifauna of Angola. The new speciesdiscovered by these travellerswere describedby Cabanls,but the collec- tions increasedso greatly that it becamenecessary to appoint an assistantto the custodianof' the ornithologicaldepartment and Anton Reichenow,who had becomeknown by reasonof his Vol.lO25 XLII] I GaIN•r•.•.,Bird Nettinq. 245 peditionto Guineaand his elaborationof its results,was appointed to the position. Reichenow devoted his attention chiefly to the avifauna of Africa and, as is well known, madea numberof contributionsto Ethiopianornithology which were published in his threevolume work:"Die VSgelAfrikas" (1900-1905). He succeededCabanis in 1803 and remained director until 1021. It was Reichenow who about 1875 began to work up all the collectionsfrom Africa. The mostimportant of theseaequlred before the founding of the colonieswere those of Dr. Gustav Adolf Fischer made in easternAftlea in 1877-1886 and thoseof Dr. Richard B6hm made in 1880-1884in the later colonyof GermanEast Africa. Later ac- cessionsbelong to recenttimes and may herebe omitted. In 1924 the Berlin Bird Collection contained about 100,000 specimens,of which25,000 are mounted. The numberof typesis about 2000. The most valuable specimensin the museum are severalextinct birds, amongwhich may be noted:Ara tricolor, eelleeredby Dr. Gundlaehin Cuba; Chaunoproctusferreirostris, from Bonin-Shima,collected by IGttlitz; Hemiphagaspadicea from Norfolk Island, and a number of extinct Drepanididae, col- lectedpartly by Deppein 1838,and partly by Behmin 1841in the Sandwich Islands. Boothstras•e•1, Berlin, .

BIRD NETTING AS A METHOD IN ORNITHOLOGY.'

BY JOSEPH GRINNELL. A chain of circumstances,fortuitous as far as I, the reporter, am concerned,has prompted me to givethe followingrecital, and, in particular,has put at my commandthe material for somein- ductionsthat may proveof interestto seriousornithologists. On October21, 1923,Deputy John Burke of the CaliforniaState Fish and Game Commissionfor San Mateo County, arrestedfour "Italians" for the illegalkilling of songbirds. The birdshad been takenby netting,and they and the fivenets were confiscated. By • Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California. Read at the Pittsburgh Meeting of the A. O. U.