EXHIBITION COLLECTIONS 4 1 



suite of giant tortoises from the Galapagos Islands and the Islands of 

 the Indian Ocean. 



The wall cases contain many fine tortoises and turtles, among these 

 the historic type specimens from which two of the species were 

 originally described. The venomous cobras, the great bushmaster 

 and the rattlesnakes are remarkable examples of taxidermy and 

 were mounted in the Museum by Mr. George Nelson, who for many 

 years has been its highly skilled chief preparator. It is impossible to 

 show all of the groups of reptiles and amphibia in a small synoptic 

 collection, but the most renowned snakes are shown, as well as many 

 beautifully mounted lizards. 



Room 306 



Holarctic Birds and Aiammals 



The birds shown in this room are in general Old World represen- 

 tatives of birds which occur in our own country, and which may be 

 seen in Room 302. In the case of the mammals, however, the collec- 

 tion is designed to show the homogeneity of the holarctic area — 

 comprising northern North America, Europe and Siberia. Here may 

 be seen, for instance, the European Red Deer and the American 

 Wapiti — representative of the same stock. So also badgers from 

 Japan, England and Montana show how closely alike are these re- 

 lated forms. As a Zoological Region this great area is a single entity. 

 It is known now that many of the mammals of North America are 

 comparatively recent arrivals on this continent. They came from 

 Northern Asia, when Northeastern Siberia and Alaska were con- 

 nected by one or perhaps successive "land bridges." Reciprocal 

 migration apparently also took place in the reverse direction. 



Room 304 



African Birds and Mammals 



The birds shown are some of the peculiar forms which are char- 

 acteristic of the Ethiopian region. The whale-headed stork from the 

 high Upper Nile is perhaps the most interesting as well as the rarest 

 of these. While the collection is not a large one, it is sufficient to 

 show how varied and extraordinary is the African avifauna. 



