In the Collection


Bird Tales
by Windsong Bergman

Among a stack of miscellaneous collection logbooks on the third floor of the Natural History Society of Maryland's offices on North Charles Street, lies the ornithological ledger of J. H. Pleasants, Jr. On yellowing pages, now over a century old, his writings describe the behavior and abundance of birds, the weather, the results of shooting and fishing expeditions, and naturally, the success or failure of his collecting efforts.

On April 30, 1892, Pleasants wrote, "some species of a hawk has build (sic) under the roof of a barn near Towson. I spend two hours today in unsuccessful efforts to obtain the eggs and was finally stopped by the breaking of the ladder. Got one shot at the bird as it was leaving the nest but missed it."

Most days, however, were more rewarding—like July 14, 1893, when he finally caught sight of the birds whose unfamiliar song teased him. As this was before the Migratory Bird Treaty, Pleasants promptly shot the adult male and two young for study skins. Tucked into his ledger is a letter from Robert Ridgeway of the Smithsonian Institution identifying them as Cerulean Warblers (Dendroica cerulea). Pleasants claimed in the journal Auk (10:372, 1893), "the Cerulean Warbler has not previously been observed in the summer east of the Alleghanies." Two of his Cerulean Warbler voucher specimens (Pleasants-280, -281) are housed in the bird skin collection of the Natural History Society of Maryland.

During May 1996, I worked with this bird skin collection as part of my senior work project through Friends School of Baltimore. Charles Davis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was my advisor. My principal job was to begin a comprehensive computer inventory of the Society's bird skin collection. Although an accession logbook exists, not all information on the labels is normally entered and known deaccessions in recent years were not indicated. A corollary to my inventory was to investigate the people, like J. H. Pleasants, Jr., who had collected the birds. Although during my internship I inventoried only about half of the approximately 1020 skins, I discovered many interesting characters worthy of a few notes.

So far, the oldest bird skin was collected in 1864 and the most recent in 1952. Surprisingly, the condition of the bird skins cannot be predicted by their age. Some birds over a century old are bright and complete, while some younger specimens are dingy with missing legs and loose necks.

Most of my attention was not on the birds themselves, but rather on their labels. I deciphered, transcribed, and entered the data into a borrowed computer using Paradox for Windows software. I found that, like their birds, the labels varied considerably in quality and condition. While some are examples of exemplary penmanship, others are scribbles whose meaning is yet to be determined. In addition to tags of the Natural History Society of Maryland, the birds bear original labels from the "Northern Boundary Survey, 1873", "Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian", "Smithsonian Institution", and the "Maryland Academy of Science". And unfortunately, some have no labels at all. The birds were collected from Point Barrow, Alaska to the Yucatan Peninsula. Most, however, were collected right here in Maryland: Ocean City, Loch Raven, and "the village of Towson", as Pleasants called it.

Many collectors such as C. Haven Kolb, Irving E. Hampe, and Gorman Bond were members of the Society. Others were nationally and internationally renowned naturalists. One such famous zoologist was Elliott Coues (pronounced "cows"). A Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) he collected near Turtle Mountain, North Dakota Territory, is now in the Society's collection. He collected it in 1873 while a party in the Northern Boundary Survey under the direction of Commissioner Archibald Campbell determining the border between the US territory and British territory (now Canada). Coues biography comments further that "Coues was among those who irritated Commissioner Campbell."

While Coues' behavior sometimes caused problems, his dogged work habits and ability to express himself made Coues "in many respects...the most brilliant writer on vertebrate zoology America has so far produced." As an Assistant Surgeon in the US Army, Coues was stationed at Fort McHenry from 1870 to 1872. Here he joined the Maryland Academy of Sciences and completed his Key to North American Birds. This 875-page tome contains a history of ornithology, bird anatomy, directions for collecting and preserving bird skins, an artificial key for identification, and illustrations and descriptions of the avifauna of the continent. After several years of assignments in the western United States, an unpleasant resignation from the Army, a bitter divorce, and several years employed as an editor and writer, Coues returned to Baltimore in 1899 and died at Johns Hopkins Hospital during an operation for a life-threatening chronic condition.

Upon opening one of the two copies of the Coues' Key in the Society's library, I was astonished to find that it belonged to J. H. Pleasants, Jr. (of the breaking ladder and elusive Cerulean Warblers). It was dated 1888, the same year that Pleasants began his ornithological ledger. Pleasants used Coues' Key in making his own collection. Indeed, I found that Pleasants' comprehensive labeling system followed Coues' instructions almost exactly. Record-keeping by early collectors must have been a tedious procedure using nib pens and paper ledgers.

Entering data from museum collections to computers can also be tedious. Collectors like Elliott Coues and J. H. Pleasants, Jr. though, add a sense of history, mystery, and personality to the otherwise 'feathers and bones' study of museum specimens. Once the bird skin inventory is complete the holdings will be advertised so that researchers and historians will know of its contents. Hopefully these relics of avian abundance will someday inspire us to make better decisions that affect these beautiful birds.