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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi, Adriana,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We’ve learned from our own egg collections that collectors didn’t always follow any standard. Some numbers on our eggs are AOU numbers, some are Ridgway numbers or numbers from other ornithological numbering systems (Dresser, Gray, Hume,
Davies, Taylor…), but some are just inventions from the collectors’ own cataloging system. One of our collectors marked specimens with designations referring to the catalog page and position on the page, e.g. “35.w” –meaning page 35, 23<sup>rd</sup> line—which
only really helps if you have that catalog in hand. For more standard designations, the letters that follow numbers could be part of old species numbering systems. As late as the 5<sup>th</sup> edition of the AOU checklist, for example, species 194 (Great
Blue Heron) lists subspecies 194a through 194e, while the 3<sup>rd</sup> edition lists only subspecies 194a and 194b. For some of our egg specimens we’re fortunate to have the collectors’ egg data cards, and some of those bear numbers from multiple numbering
systems (e.g. AOU and Ridgway), which is what I suspect is the case for some of your specimens with two designations that look like species numbers. Please share what you find out from others—I’m always looking for more leads to understanding what these designations
are trying to convey.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Cindy Opitz</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Collections Manager</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Instructor, UI Museum Studies Certificate Program</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">11 Macbride Hall</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The University of Iowa</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Iowa City IA 52242</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">319-335-0481<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.mnh.uiowa.edu/"><span style="color:#0563C1">mnh.uiowa.edu</span></a>,
<a href="http://www.oldcap.uiowa.edu/"><span style="color:#0563C1">oldcap.uiowa.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="139" height="87" style="width:1.4479in;height:.9062in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image007.jpg@01D4E3BC.E97FF160" alt="mnh_small">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu> <b>
On Behalf Of </b>Adriana Lopez Villalobos<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, March 25, 2019 9:12 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Karen Ong <13ko2@queensu.ca><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [External] [Nhcoll-l] avian eggshells — labeling<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Hello all,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I need some guidance here.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I am cataloguing an orphan collection of avian eggshells and I’m having a hard time making sense of the labeling system on some of the specimens.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">The dates on the paper labels (and in some cases on the actual eggshells) range from the late 1880’s to 1991, and eggshells come from North America, the Bahamas Islands, Ireland,
Iceland and Asia Minor. From what I understand the method for labeling avian eggshells has changed over the decades, but labeling often includes three different numbers: 1) a 3 digit reference number for the species (i.e. AOU code), 2) a set mark (number of
nests the collector sampled from that day), and 3) the clutch size that egg came from. Some of our eggshells seem to follow this pattern (Fig. 1), however there are some that have two three-digit numbers (Figs. 2 & 3), a combination of numbers and letters
(Figs. 4 & 5), and some that have numbers with decimal points and letters (Fig. 3 & 6). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Does anyone know if there is an international bird species reference list (with nomenclature updated, hopefully) that uses a 3-digit numerical coding system (i.e. the AOU or something
else)?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Is it possible that some of the numbers correspond to the collector’s own catalogue numbering system? <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I am not sure how to decipher the information on these eggshells so any helpful links or tips to understanding these types of avian eggshells labels would be greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Thank you!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Photos below<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="240" height="320" style="width:2.5in;height:3.3333in" id="_x0030_BBEEC72-E8E9-4EAC-B340-0C6F3EA12CAE" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 1. White Pelican (6-3-91) specimen from Pyramid Lake, Nevada that appears to follow the standard method of 3-digit species reference number, set mark/clutch size (125, 4/2)<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="240" height="320" style="width:2.5in;height:3.3333in" id="_x0031_F29258E-7C34-4172-97B6-3DD620A8DBA0" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 2. Swanson’s hawk (no date), appears to have 2 separate reference numbers or maybe a collector's catalogue number. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="320" height="240" style="width:3.3333in;height:2.5in" id="_x0035_014107D-0A28-4DBA-A96C-A8AAFC73B6F7" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 3. Brown Pelican (no date) egg specimen labelled as (616, 3.28, 641). <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="240" height="320" style="width:2.5in;height:3.3333in" id="_x0031_D33F151-4CCF-42AC-9F34-2B571F1C9F87" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 4. Western red-tailed hawk specimen (1991) that has a 3-digit numerical code followed by a letter, ‘337b’. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="240" height="320" style="width:2.5in;height:3.3333in" id="_x0039_4E6CF70-303E-4CEE-B68D-934144CA4E19" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 5. Seven double-crested cormorant eggs (no date) labelled as ‘a-e/3’ or ‘a-e/4’. Unsure what ‘a-e’ refers to but number indicates clutch size.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="240" height="320" style="width:2.5in;height:3.3333in" id="_x0037_78D0ED5-75FF-4FAF-8ABF-0AB4DF522068" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D4E3B9.F3A615F0"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Fig 6. Night Heron specimen (1899) collected from Plum Island, NY that appears to have a reference or catalogue number. Unsure what ‘(70. E)’ refers to. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Adriana Lopez-Villalobos, Ph.D. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Collections and Data Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Fowler Herbarium (QK)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) URL: <a href="https://qubs.ca">https://qubs.ca</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">280 Queen’s University Road, RR #1, Elgin, Ontario, KOG 1E0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:adriana.lopez.villalobos@queensu.ca">adriana.lopez.villalobos@queensu.ca</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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