Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

Birdwatching 19
Fig.1.6. Ernst Mayr (on right) on a field trip with members of the Saxony Ornithologists’
Association, April 1925. From left to right:R.Köhler,E.Dittmann,P.Bernhardt,H.Förster,
E. Mayr. (Photograph courtesy of E. Mayr.)
and Kaufbeuren only a list of expenses is preserved but no detailed diary. In
early October he was back in Berlin, where the German Ornithological Society
celebrated its 75th anniversary (p. 22, footnote). The Mayr brothers also covered
long distances on foot; 35–40 km a day was the average, but occasionally they
walked up to 50 km (see also p. 50).
Shortly after it had been founded in April 1922, Ernst, while still a high school
student, joined the Saxony Ornithologists’ Association (Verein Sächsischer Ornithologen)
and attended its annual meetings (Fig. 1.6). The majority of these
local ornithologists pursued special aspects of the bird fauna and none of them
was the kind of list chasers (“twitchers”) like the birders of New York whom Mayr
wouldmeet10yearslater.Oncehehadbicycledalongdistancetoparticipatein
an annual meeting because he could not afford the train fare. When the weather
turned bad a kind dentist from Chemnitz (Johannes Keller) paid the train fare for
him and his bicycle back to Dresden. Another member, Paul Bernhardt was specialized
on the birds of the lakes at Moritzburg; W. Salzmann, the society’s secretary,
made faunistic observations around Leipzig; H. Foerster studied the Peregrine Fal-