The Arthur Cleveland Bent Ornithological Papers (1880-1942) consist mainly of Owen Durfee's pocket size field notebooks (1880-1909) and Bent's own journals (1887-1942) which detail Bent's daily ornithological activities, including photographs from trips to Arizona, California, and Florida; also, photographs, some numbered and some unnumbered, of birds, nests, and eggs by various photographers, and other materials relating to photographs; lists of bird, nest, and egg observations, eggs wanted by and shipped to museums; and a few mimeographed and printed materials.

Some of the material provided data for Bent's volumes of Life Histories of North American Birds published between 1919 and 1942 and other titles.

Materials are arranged into six series: Field Notebooks, Journals, Photographs, Lists, Mimeographed and Printed Materials, and Handwritten index cards for books in Bent's collection.

Field notebooks and journals are arranged chronologically, the photographs are by plate number when applicable, and the lists are alphabetical by topic.

This collection is organized into six series:

• Series 1. Field Notebooks, 1880-1909
• Series 2. Journals, 1887-1942
• Series 3. Photographs
• Series 4. Lists
• Series 5. Mimeographs and Printed Materials
• Series 6. Handwritten index cards for books in Bent's collection