1892.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 501 



number of specimens contained in this collection is over 1,400, rep- 

 resenting upward of 600 species and sub-species of North Ameri- 

 can birds. Many of the specimens needed to render the collection 

 complete are contained in the study series of skins, and exan)ples 

 of these will be mounted during the ensuing year. 



The collection of Ostriches and Apteryges has also been thoroughly 

 renovated during the year, and the specimens of Tyrant Flycatchers 

 in the museum, numbering about 450, have been identified and 

 catalogued, representations of all the principal forms having been 

 remounted and the duplicates reduced to skins for the study series. 



Any further work in this direction, however, is rendered impossible 

 by the lack of suitable cases of drawers in which the collection of skins 

 may be safely preserved. All the available space is now crowded, 

 and it is absolutely impossible to find accommodation for the addi- 

 tions that are being received. In view of the importance of this 

 need, it is to be hoped that the necessary cases will soon be supplied. 



The study collection of skins, now numbering about 6,000 speci- 

 mens, has at last been catalogued and entirely re-labelled, which 

 adds greatly to its usefulness. Over 3,000 specimens have been 

 catalogued and labelled during the past year. For valuable 

 assistance in this connection the Conservator is indebted to Mr. 

 Samuel Wright. 



The collection of birds' eggs has also been temporarily rear- 

 ranged, and the North American specimens separated and re-labelled. 

 Many valuable ornithological specimens have been received during 

 the year. 



Foremost among these is a collection of 46 Arctic birds, secured 

 by the North Greenland Expedition, and a collection of 76 speci- 

 mens brought back by the Peary Relief Expedition. These 

 together with the Arctic birds secured by the West Greenland 

 Expedition of 1891, form probably the finest collection of Green- 

 land birds in this country. 



The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club has continued to add 

 to the beautiful series of nests and eggs of Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey birds which was presented last year, and the collection has 

 doubled in size, containing at the present time, 80 nests and sets of 

 eggs. Quite a number of groups of birds have been prepared to 

 accompany the nests, which serve to render the collection more 

 attractive and instructive. The Philadelphia Zoological Society 

 has presented numerous valuable birds, which have been mounted 



