History and contents of the scientific bird collection

The early period, 1838 to 1871

As soon as the (Royal) Zoological Society 'Natura Artis Magistra' was founded in 1838, live and mounted birds featured well among the animals exhibited. Though the main aim of the Society was to show live animals, most birds did not survive long, and then ended stuffed in the exhibition halls if not too heavily damaged during captivity. As no labels were attached to the stuffed birds in this period, we do not know how many of the birds were mounted by the Society's taxidermist C. V. O. Bouwmeester and how many were obtained from Natural History dealers, but the total number of birds must have been considerable, as at present c. 2000 birds from this period survive (mostly larger ones), and at the time of the new 'Grote Museum' in 1850-1855, the entire top-floor galeries (with c. 600 m2 of glass cases) was filled with birds. This Grote Museum resembles the recently renovated Paris Museum Galery. (Standing idle since the early 1950's, it is now in a poor state - imitating the Paris Museum is a desirable goal.)

Next to birds from the Society's zoo and those bought from dealers, some important collections were purchased the most notable one being the skeleton collection of father and son Gerardus and Willem Vrolik obtained 1865, which had been started already early in the 19th century. Members of virtually all non-passerine bird families were represented. The revision of the higher bird-taxa undertaken by Max Fürbringer in the 1880's which forms the foundation of the Wetmore order of families was largely based on this skeleton collection and on birds died in the zoo. As for the stuffed birds, skeletons were unlabelled and we do not know what of the surviving skeletons are the Vrolik ones.