We have just completed a review of Major European Bird Collections. This was partly due to the term "value" being attributed to cases of birds either by certain artists and their rarity in terms of availability. This term has always intrigued, given the fact that taxidermy has been so out of fashion for so long.
The need therefore to understand the number and therefore the potential availability of such items is of interest. We concentrated on "major" collections as to be able to determine the exact number of small collections would be too onerous. Therefore we concentrated on those collections that were once private and are now in public hands. Collections that were obtained principally around 1830 onwards until say 1920.
The figure outlined below also does not include birds eggs, skeletons or nests. Clearly many of the major firms, Ward, Gunn, Spicer, Kirk, Murray, Cullingford etc etc would have been commissioned to undertake the work as it would have been a requirement to ensure that the items were anatomically correct. Anyway the total figure for items of either bird skins or mounts of birds only in the UK, is approximately. 1.2 million items. In museums today clearly we only see a fraction of these on display. Image the task just to ensure that they remain in good condition?. Still think this stuff is rare?
Although Victorian Taxidermist's attitudes to wildlife seem almost barbaric by modern standards, it should be remembered that Victorian naturalists did not access to binoculars or cameras. Often, the only method of identifying flying specimens was to shoot first and study afterwards. This is not an excuse, merely a factual reality. Also in the defence of the Victorian and perhaps the suggestion that they were responsible for the decimation of various species, this is perhaps true. It is however nothing compared with today's industrial society. Habitat loss, liberal and perhaps unregulated use of herbicides, insecticides have also taken their toll. Not to mention massive growth in the worlds population and the demands that makes. Yes the Victorians played their part, but today we are causing significant envrionmental damage, the results of which we have no knowledge.
The chough was once widespread around the coasts of Britain but has declined since the early nineteenth century, with only about 300 pairs left, mainly in Wales, the Isle of Man and western Scotland, although a larger population is present in Eire. A decline in suitable feeding habitat is thought to be the main reason for the loss of the chough from England, with many of the well-grazed pastures that were once common along the coast ploughed up for arable crops or overgrown with scrub.
Cornwall was once a stronghold for Choughs, they last nested in the county in 1952, long after they had been lost from the rest of England. As the chough declined, so it became an increasingly prized target for egg collectors and trophy hunters and this may have finally sealed the bird's fate in Cornwall.
In 2001 four wild choughs were seen in west Cornwall and three took up residence, leading to hopes that they might stay to breed. Developments were eagerly awaited during the early spring of 2002 and to everyone's delight two of the birds began nesting. By mid-April they had built a nest tucked away out of sight within a sea cave and the female had begun to incubate a clutch of eggs - the first Coughs to breed in Cornwall (and England) for 50 years. A team of dedicated volunteers provided a round-the-clock watch over the birds to ensure illegal egg collectors could not raid the nest and thereby ruin any chance of the chough returning to Cornwall.
Henry Shaw, familiarly known as "Harry" Shaw, was born at Tarporley, Cheshire, October 3, 1812. He came to Shrewsbury as a boy, and was educated by Mr. David Parkes, of Castle Street, a well-known man in his day. He must have been a boy of quick perceptions, for in after life he displayed an amount of information on his particular line of work which few men could equal. His father's shop was a small one in Shoplatch, and was demolished in 1868 to make room for the New Market Hall. Henry and his brother John worked at taxidermy under their father, and for some time after his death remained in partnership but eventually they separated. Both started in business at Shrewsbury and were clever men at their profession, but Harry, owing to his more genial nature, got on much better that John with the country gentlemen, and thus secured most of them as his patrons. He secured the orders to mount and arrange the collection of Birds at Hawkstone, Clungunford, and Ludlow Musuem, and received large sums of money for the work done at those places. Lord Hill appointed him curator to his collection at an annual salary, and by this means Henry Shaw became so famous as a taxidermist that orders flowed in to him from all parts of the kingdom. The first "Short-toed Lark" found in Britain was recognised by him and sent up to Mr. Yarrell, who recorded it in his "History of British Birds." He moved into his well-known shop at 45 High Street in 1870. Besides the collections named above, Henry Shaw was mainly instrumental in arranging and mounting those belonging to Col. Wingfield, at Onslow; Earl Powis, at Powis Castle; Mr. Naylor, at Leighton Hall; the Duke of Westminster, at Eaton Hall; the Duke of Portland, Welbeck Abbey; and many others. This work at Welbeck was the last that he lived to accomplish, for he died after only a few days' illness October 7th 1887, a hale, strong man, at 75; he was a Hercules as a young man, and many tales are told of his prowess as a fighter. Probably few other men could say that they had had through their hands three specimens of the rare, and now extinct, Bird - the Great Auk. His love of Sport continued to the end of his life; an expert salmon fisher, he rented part of the Wye and caught a rare lot of fish there annually; indeed, he probably owed his death to exposure to cold while salmon fishing at Builth, which brought on pleurisy
