November, 19S3 



FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



Page 3 



COLORADO EXPEDITION UNEARTHS 

 RARE FOSSIL SPECIMENS 



A valuable collection of fossil mammals 

 and reptiles has been brought to Field 

 Museum by Bryan Patterson, Assistant in 

 Paleontology in the Department of Geology, 

 who has returned from an expedition con- 

 ducted under his leadership in western 

 Colorado during the past summer. Mr. 

 Patterson was accompanied by James H. 

 Quinn and Clayton A. Quinn. 



Among the specimens obtained are skulls 

 and parts of the skeleton of an animal that 

 has hitherto been one of the rarest of fossil 

 mammals. This creature, known as Tita- 

 noides, is a representative of the Amblypoda, 

 an extinct order of primitive hoofed mam- 

 mals. The history of the discovery of the 

 animal is an example of the slow growth of 

 our knowledge of fossil vertebrates, accord- 

 ing to Elmer S. Riggs, Associate Curator 

 of Paleontology. 



In 1917 Titanoides was named on the 

 basis of a fragment of lower jaw from North 

 Dakota. In 1930 other fragments of lower 

 jaw were described from Wyoming. In 

 1931 there was presented to the Museum, 

 by E. B. Faber of Grand Junction, Colorado, 

 another broken lower jaw which he had 

 found in his vicinity. 



As a result of the interest aroused by 

 these specimens, a party from the Museum 

 visited this region in the summer of 1932. 

 The collections obtained, consisting of lower 

 jaws, a distorted skull, and leg and foot 

 bones, added to the knowledge of the 

 animal's structure, but were insufficient to 

 permit an adequate conception of the 

 entire skeleton. With the specimens just 

 secured it is hoped that it will now be 

 possible to add a mounted skeleton of 

 Titanoides to the Museum's exhibition series. 



BIRDS-OF-PARADISE 



By Rudyehd Boulton 

 Assistant Curator of Birds 



It is a far cry from a somberly hued 

 raven to an exotic king bird-of-paradise, 

 yet these two birds are really first cousins. 

 The family of ravens, crows, and jays 

 has a world-wide range, while birds-of- 

 paradise are found only in New Guinea 

 and near-by islands. They are well named, 

 for in many respects they are not exceeded 

 by any other group of birds for sheer 

 beauty and intricate ornamentation. The 

 first specimens of these birds to reach 

 Europe lacked the wings and feet. Legends 

 arose that the beautiful plumes of the flanks 

 supported them in the air, and that they 

 needed no feet for they spent their lives in 

 flight, continually turning their breasts to 

 the sun. 



Field Museum has recently placed on 

 exhibition in the systematic series of exotic 

 birds in Hall 21 a screen showing paradise 

 birds together with some of their nearest 

 relatives. Crows and jays, because of their 

 close relationship, are well represented by 

 specimens from every part of their world- 

 wide range. Chickadees, creepers, and 

 nuthatches are families of more distant 

 kinship that fit into the complicated scheme 

 of the evolution of this group of birds. At 

 the other end of the series, orioles from the 

 Old World, drongos from India and cuckoo- 

 shrikes from Malaysia complete the picture 

 of the relationships of these birds. All of 

 them are true song birds, and while they 

 compose the most highly specialized major 

 group^ they are relatively low down in the 

 scale of evolution. The most primitive 

 members of the group, larks and swallows, 

 are shown near-by. 



While crows and jays have become 

 adapted to living under all sorts of conditions 

 and in all parts of the world, the same 

 tendency towards specialization has caused 

 paradise birds to develop fantastic court- 

 ship dances and complicated ornamental 

 plumes. Prince Rudolph's blue bird-of- 

 paradise is shown in courtship display, the 

 delicate form of its nuptial plumes bearing 

 marvelous pastel shades of blue, mauve, 

 lilac, and maroon. During the display, 

 which lasts for several minutes, it swings 

 upside down from a branch, quivering its 

 plumes in an ecstasy of sheer abandon {see 

 accompanying illustration). Other resplend- 

 ently beautiful specimens are the gorgetted, 

 the king, the superb, the magnificent and 

 the great bird-of-paradise. 



Many of Field Museum's expeditions of 

 recent years have contributed specimens to 

 this exhibit. Among them are the Crane 



:♦ 



« 



Blue Bird-of-Paradise 



Tliis, tile most ornate species of all, siiown in full 

 nuptial display, hanging upside down on a branch, its 

 habitual position during courtship. 



Pacific Expedition, the Kelley-Roosevelts 

 Asiatic Expedition, the Suydam Cutting 

 Sikkim Expedition and the Chicago Daily 

 News Abyssinian Expedition. 



John W. Moyer of the Museum's taxi- 

 dermy staff prepared the exhibit. 



MUSEUM READY TO DISPOSE 

 OF SURPLUS TOTEMS 



Its own exhibited collection complete 

 with some thirty totems displayed in Hall 10, 

 Field Museum is able to offer at this time a 

 rare opportunity to other institutions or 

 private collectors to obtain original totem 

 poles, potlatch figures, and houseposts of 

 the Northwest Coast Indians. The Museum 

 has about a dozen extra examples which, 

 on account of lack of space, cannot be 

 exhibited. As the Canadian government 

 now has an export ban on these objects, 

 the Museum's surplus collection comprises 

 probably all the specimens now obtainable 

 in this country. 



These totems have been on exhibition this 

 summer at the American Indian Village at 

 A Century of Progress Exposition. They 

 are all excellent specimens, well preserved, 

 and most of them are probably more than 

 one hundred years old. They range from 

 six and one-half feet to forty-eight feet in 

 height. Among the tribes whose work 

 is represented are the Kwakiutl and Haida. 



Negotiations are solicited regarding the 

 disposal of these objects. Any institution 

 or individual desiring further information 

 is invited to communicate with the Director 

 of Field Museum. 



LARGE AUSTRALIAN COLLECTION 

 PLACED ON EXHIBITION 



By Wilfrid D. Hahbly 

 Aasistant Curator of African Ethnology 



What is probably the largest and most 

 complete collection in this country repre- 

 senting the ethnology of the aboriginal 

 tribes of Australia has just been placed on 

 exhibition, for the first time, in Hall Al. 



The Australian aborigines, numbering 

 about 50,000 people scattered over a conti- 

 nent as large as the United States, are of 

 special interest because they are still living 

 in a stone age state of culture, lacking all 

 knowledge of the use of metals. 



The Australian tribes make no pottery, 

 have no musical instruments, wear no cloth- 

 ing, and have no dwelling houses except 

 temporary shelters. However, they show a 

 remarkable ingenuity in manufacturing 

 tools, weapons and ornaments from stone, 

 bone, wood, sinew and gum. 



As illustrated in the Museum collection, 

 stone, and even bottle glass when available, 

 are chipped and flaked into spearheads of 

 narrow leaf shape, with small serrations. 

 The flaking of these regular notches, which 

 look like the fine teeth of a saw, calls for 

 the highest skill. For carving wooden 

 spears, some of which are elaborately barbed, 

 stone implements are used, and tools of 

 the same kind are employed for shaping 

 boomerangs, clubs and spear-throwers — • 

 wooden devices used to extend the length 

 of the arm and give greater power to the 

 thrust of a spear. 



Boomerangs in the exhibit demonstrate 

 that, contrary to popular belief, the well- 

 known returning boomerang, which is made 

 with a twist, is only a plaything, rather 

 than a weapon, whereas the form used In 

 hunting and warfare is of the non-returning 

 variety, which is flat. 



Personal ornament is of a simple kind. 

 It consists of opossum and kangaroo sinew, 

 along with shredded bark and human hair, 

 all of which are plaited into objects for wear 

 upon the neck, arms and forehead. Usually 

 these ornaments, and in fact most other 

 objects as well, are rubbed with red ocher. 

 Shells and brightly colored seeds are popular 

 for decoration. Several handsome strings 

 of small blue shells such as were worn by 

 the extinct Tasmanians, are on exhibition. 



Magic plays an important part in the lives 

 of Australian aborigines, as is illustrated in 

 the Museum exhibit by a number of "point- 

 ing sticks" and "pointing bones" which, 

 when secretly jabbed in the direction of an 

 enemy who is meanwhile cursed, are believed 

 actually to enter his body. Also shown are 

 shoes made of emu feathers, which are 

 believed to be magically potent in leading 

 the wearer on the track of his enemy. 



Ghosts are greatly feared, and because the 

 belief prevails that disembodied spirits 

 haunt the living to observe whether the 

 mourning ceremonies are carefully carried 

 out, widows are required to sit for days 

 beside the grave of a deceased husband. 

 As the people are polygamous, several 

 widows may be found at one man's grave. 

 They shave their heads and cover their 

 bodies with white clay. Daily they give 

 a covering of lime to their heads, which in 

 the course of weeks accumulates into a heavy 

 widow's cap, an excellent example of which 

 is shown in the exhibit. 



Other features of the exhibit include 

 message sticks carried by messengers to 

 serve as passports when traveling in the 

 territory restricted to tribes other than 

 their own, a totem pole wound around with 

 down and human hair, shields, spears, 

 implements, and other artifacts. 



