Jan., 1914. Annual Report of the Director. 309 



inhering asphalt and made ready for mounting. Specimens of Patagonian 

 fossil mammals, 28 in all, were also prepared, determined, and installed. 

 The Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology has prepared and 

 published descriptions of 1 2 new species and one new genus of trilobites 

 which he collected in the Maquoketa beds of Fayette County, Iowa, and 

 has cleaned and identified a large amount of other material which he 

 obtained at the same localities. In addition he has mounted on labeled 

 tablets for exhibition a large number of invertebrate fossils, the work of 

 mounting having progressed as rapidly as the tablets could be obtained 

 from the printer. 



Several bird and mammal groups are nearing completion, but only 

 one was actually installed during the year — a large group representing 

 bird life on Laysan Island. This island, situated about 400 miles west 

 of Honolulu in the mid-Pacific, has been set aside as a United States 

 Government Bird Reservation on account of the vast number of pelagic 

 birds that breed there. The group includes eleven species of birds 

 (with a number of nests andtfgggs) , among them being Petrels, Man-o'- 

 war birds, and two species of Albatrosses. The latter are shown indulg- 

 ing in their peculiar "dance." 1 ; The" painted background shows the 

 character of the island and the great number of birds which breed there, 

 an illustration of environment, being of educational value. A very large 

 group of American Bison is in the final stage of installation and will soon 

 occupy space in the central rotunda of the Museum. This group of 

 representative American mammals contains six Bison of varying ages, 

 shown in a characteristic Western Plains setting, to which environ- 

 ment "atmosphere" has been given by the addition of a few small 

 animals, such as prairie dog, a burrowing owl, and a rattlesnake. A 

 large amount of taxidermy work has been planned and partly executed. 

 Groups in various stages of completion are: Olympic Elk, Capybara 

 and Jaguar, and a chipmunk and Spermophile group. Fresh specimens 

 for an imposing group of Alaskan Moose and also for an Arctic bird 

 group (Walrus Island) have been received, and work on these groups 

 will begin at once. Five specimens of mammals have been added to the 

 serial exhibition collection and several more are partly mounted, some 

 of which will be completed at an early date. These are Asiatic Takin, 

 Spectacled Bear, Kansu Deer, Mandril, and White-lipped Peccary. Some 

 twenty specimens were added to the series of mounted birds including 

 two examples of the exceedingly rare Trumpeter Swan, a gift from Mr. 

 J. M. Barnes of Lacon, Illinois. During the year the attention of the 

 Division of Entomology was given as much as possible to work that 

 pertained directly or indirectly to the installation of exhibits. A step 

 in this direction was the week spent in completing the work of determin- 

 ing local grasshoppers or Orthoptera, which, it is planned, will eventually 



