46 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sparrow, American robin, spotted sandpiper, Indian bunting, Balti- 

 more oriole, red-winged blackbird, wood-thrush, oven-bird, rose-breasted 

 grosbeak, scarlet tanager, vireo, king-bird, bobolinlv and quail. The last 

 group to be installed is an excellent representation of the prairie-hen. 

 These realistic imitations of birds and insects amid their environment 

 of foliage, blossoms and grasses constitute a feature of the museum 

 that appeals with peculiar interest to children. Under the head of 

 zoology there are good collections of corals and shells; the latter with 

 over two thousand specimens, representing two hundred and twenty- 

 nine genera and one hundred and seven species. Entomology is rep- 

 resented by twenty cases of butterflies with a total of two hundred 

 and thirty-five specimens, twenty-two cases of moths with three hundred 

 and twenty-three specimens and five boxes containing orthoptera, gall 

 wasps and micro-lepidoptera with ninety-seven specimens, and three 

 cases showing the life history of moths. There is also a study collection 

 of one hundred and seventy-two noctuid moths. Some notable additions 

 have been made to the department of mammals in the past few years. 

 Mention should be made of an albinistic northern Virginia deer, an un- 

 usually rare specimen. A muskrat group, measuring five feet by seven 

 feet, six inches, and showing the home of the animal in winter and sum- 

 mer with the environment carefully reproduced has been recently 

 installed. 



Last summer the museum received two remarkable gifts, a group of 

 elk and one of buffalo. Each requires a case sixteen by sixteen feet on 

 the floor and twelve feet high. The elk family of three members is 

 placed among barberry bushes, quaking ash trees, moss-covered logs 

 and stumps, in a veritable imitation of a woodland scene. Eemarkable 

 skill has been shown in the mounting of the animals, the arrangement 

 of material and the modeling of the plant life, the leaves and blossoms. 

 A bit of open prairie, with characteristic vegetation, constitutes the set- 

 ting for the group of bison and is as effective in all respects as that of 

 the elk. These additions are a means of attracting visitors and thus 

 promote the popularity of the museum. As specimens of native 

 animals, whose numbers are rapidly decreasing, their value will increase 

 with years. The mounted mammals are supplemented by a series of 

 skeletons of typical vertebrates. Attention is now being given to the 

 better development of the department of mammals, especially in the 

 direction of the local fauna. 



In the upper story of the front portion of the museum building, 

 there is on exhibition material in archeology, historical curios and 

 ethnology. The Indian relics are of wide range in kind and geograph- 

 ical distribution, and the Connecticut A^alley in which Springfield is 

 situated is well represented. Out of a total of over three thousand 

 specimens, seven hundred and sixty-six are from this valley and four 



