Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

110 3 The New York Years (1931–1953)
reports]. Joe Hickey did a careful census, à la Schiermann [p. 46] of a plot in
Westchester County. Bill Vogt, when he became editor of Bird-Lore (later Audubon
Magazine) was so enthusiastic about Hickey’s breeding bird census that he introduced
breeding bird censuses in his magazine as a counterpart to the winterly
Christmas censuses.
The reviews of literature as well as the problems they undertook were eye openers
to these young birdwatchers who had had no academic training. Hickey indeed
was so impressed by the possibilities that he quit his job at Consolidated Edison
and went back to College, eventually becoming a professor of wildlife studies at
the University of Wisconsin. He also wrote an excellent Guide to Bird Watching,
1943 (to a considerable extent based on the literature we had reviewed in our
seminar) and eventually was one of the most important voices in the fight against
DDT and other pesticides.” Like Stresemann in Berlin, Mayr was convinced that
with proper guidance, serious birdwatchers could make important contributions
to science (see also Barrow 1998: 194).
In his report for 1932–1933, the Secretary of the Linnaean Society, William Vogt,
stated: “Perhaps the most noteworthy event in the year’s history of the Society
was the establishment, under the leadership of Dr. Ernst Mayr, of a monthly
seminar for the abstracting and discussion of current papers concerned with field
ornithology. The formation of the seminar evoked a gratifying reception from
the Society’s members and it offers an obviously welcome opportunity for more
technical discussions than are desirable or feasible in the regular meetings.” These
seminars continued at least until 1938 (LeCroy 2005).
As editor from 1934 to 1941, Mayr upgraded the publications of the Linnaean Society,
opening the Proceedings and the Transactions for large contributions. Charles
Urner was the publisher of a journal in dairy and egg trade knowing nothing about
science. Nevertheless, he was willing to supervise the printing of the Society’s
publications and taught Mayr all the tricks of editing and publishing. Mayr first
persuaded Margaret Morse Nice (1883–1974) to write a two-volume monograph
(1937, 1942) on the life history of the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). Volume
1 is dedicated “To my friend Ernst Mayr.” He had done a lot of editing on this
manuscript of population studies. Numerous letters were exchanged between him
and Mrs. Nice. He also mediated her meeting with Erwin Stresemann during her
visit to Europe in 1932. When Niko Tinbergen (1907–1988) visited New York in
1938, Mayr solicited a manuscript from him on his observations of Greenland
birds, especially the Snow Bunting in spring (published in the Transactions in
1939). Mayr provided valuable criticism on the manuscript and on some of his
views of animal behavior also suggesting that Tinbergen expand his interest into
the genetics of behavior. 8 At first the council of the Linnaean Society felt that this
type of publications would not be read by the old-time birdwatchers. However,
8 TinbergenstayedagainwiththeMayrsforawhilewhenhelecturedatvariousuniversities
in the United States in late 1946–early 1947, a trip Mayr had organized. The latter
suggested that Tinbergen put into book form the manuscript for the six lectures he gave
at Columbia University (New York). It was published later under the title The Study of
Instinct (1951).