THE BIRD COLLECTION 



BY 



JAMES L. PETERS 



The study collection of birds, amounting to some 250,000 specimens, 

 is located on the fifth floor of the North wing of the building. The 

 synoptic collections in the public halls consist of mounted birds. 

 The study collection, on the other hand, is in the form of "skins," 

 that is, instead of being mounted in a more or less life-like attitude 

 and fastened to a wooden stand, the birds are stuffed with a little 

 cotton and laid on their backs in an attitude suggesting that of a 

 dead bird. The skins are stored in trays in air-tight, light-proof cases 

 and are available to scientists of standing and to accredited students 

 for study. Whereas the exhibition collection contains one or more 

 representatives of each family of birds, there is no practical advan- 

 tage to be gained by endeavoring to display one of each of the 3000 

 genera or 25,000 species of birds known today. This is properly the 

 function of the study collection, which contains nearly all the genera 

 and nearly seventy per cent of the recognized forms. 



This collection of bird skins was begun under the direction of Pro- 

 fessor Louis Agassiz in 1859. It consisted at that time chiefly of local 

 birds, and its growth for the first forty years was gradual. During 

 that period the larger part of its acquisitions was by purchase or gift, 

 though the Thayer Expedition in Brazil in 1865 and the Expedition 

 to the Rocky Mountains in 1871 added many specimens. The 

 Bryant Collection of North American and West Indian birds 

 amounting to about 8000 skins was received in 1899. It was the first 

 really large collection to be received by the Museum. The Bangs 

 collection, received in 1909, added 25,000 birds from North America, 

 Central and northern South America, including about 150 types 

 and many rare and desirable species. Since the beginning of the 

 present century the growth of the collection has been much more 

 rapid and less haphazard. Efforts have been made to secure as 

 many species and genera as possible from all parts of the world. The 



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