Collection of Bird Eggs Survives, Inspires, Even After 100 Years

^{Above (l–r): Madison Cantrell ’24 and Mary Rivers pore over the egg collection. (Photos by Catie Cleveland)}

The College of Charleston Department of Biology has a rare collection of South Carolina bird eggs on display.

The collection, which sits behind glass on the main level of the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, attracts the attention of students and visitors alike, with its brilliant array of colors, sizes, shapes and patterns.

The eggs were gifted to the university by the widow of Thomas Pinckney Rutledge Rivers.

Mary Rivers, who taught math at the College before retiring, says the collection survived the harshest of elements, including South Carolina’s notorious humidity, in nothing more than flimsy cigar boxes and cotton batting, managing to survive intact in her Sullivan’s Island attic even after Hurricane Hugo ripped off the roof above.

“I realized they could do more good on display at the College than at my home where many were stored in the attic,” says Rivers, who says she is “delighted” with not only the display, but also the fact that College of Charleston students and faculty members are working together to create a digital database of the collection that will benefit researchers around the globe.

“Imagine the care, the fascination, the love of the natural world he must have had, to so patiently collect, preserve and catalog these eggs,” says Melissa Hughes, associate chair of biology, who is leading the collection’s digitalization efforts with the help of biology and environmental studies graduate Madison Cantrell ’24, who centered her capstone project around the collection.

From Cigar Boxes in the Attic to 3D Models for the World

Together, the two have curated, photographed and digitized the collection, even creating three dimensional images of some of the eggs. Their work will eventually become part of the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History’s online database, available to researchers worldwide. The digital models will also serve as valuable tools for future research, enabling detailed examination without risking damage to the eggs themselves.

Cantrell says her earlier work with the rare egg collection influenced her current career with Coastal Expeditions, where she leads excursions through the Lowcountry’s waterways, fostering a sense of connection, wonder and responsibility for the ecosystems and wildlife that call South Carolina home, especially shorebirds and seabirds.

“The project deepened my appreciation for the remarkable diversity and significance of avian eggs,” she says. “I gained insight into the evolutionary and ecological factors influencing the eggs’ variation in color, pattern and shape.”

Cantrell says one particularly striking aspect of the collection was its historical depth. Thomas P.R. Rivers collected the eggs around his South Carolina home north of McClellanville as a child in the 1930s and ‘40s.

One of her favorite eggs almost didn’t make it into the collection: a northern bobwhite egg accompanied by a handwritten note reading, “June 9, 1935 –Taken from a King Snake.”

Forever Treasured

Along with the joy of sharing the collection with the world, Rivers says the donation of her late husband’s collection to the College of Charleston holds more personal meaning: “All seven of Tommy’s children either graduated from or took courses at the College, so I couldn’t be happier that it’s on display here.”

“For a scientist, this collection is a treasure,” says Eric McElroy, biology professor and chair of the department, noting that modern conservation regulations would prevent such a collection from being gathered today. “Collections like this just don’t exist in many places. We’re incredibly lucky to have it.”

The rare egg collection is on display on the first floor of the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, 58 Coming St.