Amazing Birds’ Eggs…
The Museum houses a fine collection of British Birds’ Eggs, and others from around the world. The egg collections, unlike the mounted birds, are not on public display, but are arranged in cabinets, which may be viewed by consulting the Oology Curator.
The collections include those from Dr Albert Batley (Western Palaearctic) and W.J. Ashford (mainly Dorset.) Ashford also includes a superb collection of Red-backed Shrike eggs, some Erythristic. The collection also contains sea bird eggs that have never been recorded as ever nesting on Portland.
It is important to make it clear that the Society’s collections of eggs were collected a century ago. It has been illegal to take birds eggs from the wild since 1954. Since September 1982, with the introduction of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, it has also been against the law for a person simply to possess the egg of any British wild bird. Museums are permitted to hold old egg collections for research and educational purposes.
CLICK HERE to read more about these collections of particular interest:
The W.J. Ashford Collection
The Dr. Albert Batley Collection
The Shirley Wyllys Collection
