Illustration of the cones and needles of the White Pine (Pinus strobus), from 'A description of the genus Pinus,' by Lambert. London: J. White, 1803-1824....

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.

William Brewster’s summertime journals are filled with birdsong: he noted which species were singing, when, and, to the best of his ability, what those songs sounded like. This left us some beautiful nature writing that also provides some insight on the scientist's emotional connection to his work and study sites. Here are two passages...

As of the end of June, 2016, the Ernst Mayr Library has digitized and contributed over 9300 volumes (3,162,725 pages) to the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). Contained within these pages are 11,966,599 instances of indexed species names. Since the first volumes were uploaded to BHL in December, 2007, Ernst Mayr Library items have been accessed a total of 7,040,287 times. Monthly usage now consistently exceeds 100,000 downloads with June, 2016 showing a total of 171,499...

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...