This post is part of a series on the collection of ornithologist William Brewster (1851-1919) at the Ernst Mayr Library, written by Elizabeth Meyer, Library Project Assistant.

In the mid-1890s, Brewster’s journals increasingly reference using new methods of data collection. Though he continued to collect specimens on a smaller scale, with focus shifted from birds to their nests and eggs, his journals show that he began to use his gun more for securing dinner than for data collection. He started to bring field glasses (binoculars) and a boxy Kodak camera on his excursions.

Setting up photographs in the field was challenging. Sometimes a bit of prep work helped, such as thinning the foliage in backcountry areas: “I spent the day ashore taking a walk through the wood road in the forenoon with camera & hatchet selecting & cutting out spots for photographing later.” (Sunshine, Deer Island, Maine. June 26, 1896.)

Opportunistic shots of live animals were even trickier, but once in a while he managed to get some good shots. 

Porcupine

... Read more about Notes from William Brewster: Trials in Wildlife Photography

In March 1886, one deacade before the Massachusetts Audubon Society for the Protection of Birds had organized, William Brewster wrote three letters to fellow ornithologist George Sennett, describing an early attempt to pass bird protection legislation in Massachusetts.

Brewster, who would become the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s first president and a co-founder of the American...

William Brewster (1851-1919) was a renowned American amateur ornithologist, first president of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and a president of the American Ornithologists' Union. He was an avid collector of birds and their nests and eggs, and collected over forty thousand specimens from 1861 until his death in 1919. His collection, bequeathed to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, is considered one of the finest private collections of North American birds ever assembled. Though Brewster collected throughout North America, his collection is especially...

Works by James Henry Blake (1845-1941) on display at the Ernst Mayr Library

A new exhibit of drawings and watercolors by J.H. Blake, is now on display in the lobby of the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.   Join us for a reception in honor of the exhibit on July 25, 2013 from 2:30-4:30pm.  The exhibit was developed by Robert Young, Special Collections Librarian.  Notes on Blake’s life and work follow below.

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It is with great sadness that we have to report that Farish Jenkins passed away on November 11, 2012 after waging a strong fight against cancer.

When the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology awarded him the Romer-Simpson Medal in 2009, Farish shared his own memories and insights about his career: 2009 Romer-...

As you might already know, the Ernst Mayr Library has a colony of hissing cockroaches as library pets. Recently these cockroaches...