I seem to remember this story, purported to be true. Perhaps someone can
substantiate it. Mayr was an ornithologist and curator of a German
collection (sorry, don't remember which one). The Museum of Comparative
Zoology at Harvard purchased the collection. To MCZ's surprise, when the
collection arrived it was accompanied by Mayr. He became the de facto MCZ
curator of birds, and later champion of systematics. His textbook was what I
used when I took systematics many years ago (of course there were fewer
species then).
 
G. Thomas Watters
Ohio Biological Survey &
Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
Ohio State University
1315 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH  USA
v: 614-292-6170
f: 614-292-0181