While at High School at the end of the 1950’s I was approached by my biology teacher, a very kind man who could tell captivating stories about wild life. He knew that my hobby was ‘birds’, and then I refer to our feathered friends and not the opposite sex. My biology teacher informed me that the school was getting rid of its collection of bird eggs as it was taking up too much space. He also asked another boy with interest in birds and the two of us were allowed to split the collection between us. As a result I suddenly became the proud owner of eggs laid by almost every wild bird in Holland with the exception of the stork which at that time had nearly become extinct. Each egg had been emptied using a special drill which made perfect round holes. And a small black card mentioned in white lettering the Latin name of each bird and when and where the egg had been found. At the age of 13 my interest in Latin was non-existent and I made the fateful error to throw most of the cards away. For some reason I kept a few which are still in my possession. Most of the eggs, as testified by the black cards, were collected by a certain Mr Jan Kemeling in the years 1936 – 1938 but I have not been able to find more information about this gentleman. All these years the eggs have been in storage as my interest in birds waned as other fields of collecting became more appealing. But from time to time I take them out of storage and admire their variety of shapes and colours. Private collection.