24 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 



many examples of the taxidermist's art not surpassed elsewhere, and 

 some which are probably unequaled. There remains to be replaced 

 or made over, however, a certain amount of old material which has 

 been retained on display in order that the several series may not 

 present too many gaps. 



Mammals. — The mammals occupy the entire first story of the west 

 wing except a small section in the north aisle, or a floor space of 

 22,112 square feet. The great skyUghted area contains the North 

 American fauna, and also a hmited number of forms from Central 

 and South America. Most conspicuous among the features of this 

 hall are 8 large groups representing the American bison, moose, 

 musk ox, pronghorn, barren-ground caribou, woodland caribou. 

 Rocky Mountain sheep, and Rocky Mountain goat. In cases against 

 the walls, mounted singly, are different species of bears, seals, and 

 ungulates. In the eastern part of the hall, that nearest the rotunda, 

 are shown many of the smaller carnivores, such as wolves, foxes, cats, 

 and skunks; small mustehds, such as the weasels and minks; an 

 exceptionally fine specimen of the Alaskan sea otter; a family of 

 badgers at their burrow; a number of the remarkable Texan arma- 

 dillo among characteristic desert vegetation; a large walrus from 

 Bering Sea; and sea lions and fur seals from Cahfornia and Alaska. 

 In the western part of the hall are the rodents, or .rabbits, squirrels, 

 mice, etc.; the insectivores, such as the shrews and moles ; the bats; a 

 group of prairie dogs near their burrow in company with a burrowing 

 owl; and a group of opossums at the root of a tree, under which their 

 rude nest is shown. Two wall and two small table cases at the 

 extreme end of this area contain the mammals of Central and South 

 America, a very incomplete series. 



The palearctic fauna, which has been assigned the eastern part of 

 the north aisle to a distance of about 74 feet from the pavihon wall, 

 begins with a group of Spitzbergen polar bears, followed successively 

 by a fine specimen of the Mongolian tiger; many representatives of 

 the ungulates, such as the roebuck, the true elk or European moose, 

 the European bison, the chamois of the Alps, the rare and remarkable 

 Chinese antelope called the takin, and various wild sheep; and 

 numerous examples of the smaller carnivores, insectivores, and 

 rodents. Among the rodents is a series of various species of rats so 

 mounted as to clearly present the differences between the several 

 forms of these animals wliich have lately attracted so much attention 

 as carriers of the germs of bubonic plague. 



The oriental series occupies a position and area in the south aisle 

 corresponding with those of the palearctic fauna in the north aisle. 

 It is adjoined by the Australasian series, limited to a single bay of 18^ 

 feet, and this in turn is followed by the Ethiopian or African series, 

 which is continued into and fills the entire outer end of the wing, 



