REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 65 



generic position of the blue whale, and the third on the morphology 

 of the cetacean skull. A small but important collection of bones 

 from a cave in Haiti was examined and a report on them prepared. 

 He has also brought nearlj'^ up to date the manuscript of his 

 " List of North American mammals in the United States National 

 Museum," last published in 1911 and now out of print. As this 

 work is recognized as a standard reference list and the Museum 

 frequently receives applications for it, prompt publication is much 

 to be desired. N. Hollister has completed the study work on the 

 African Artiodactyla, and is now preparing material to be photo- 

 graphed. With the completion of these photographs, the third and 

 last volume of the African report will be ready for publication. 



Dr. Robert Ridgway has submitted the following memorandum 

 on his progress with parts 9 and 10 of the Birds of Middle and 

 North America : " Work on Parts 9 and 10 of Bulletin 50 has been 

 on the same lines as that of last year, namely, ' cleaning up ' over- 

 looked or deferred books and pamphlets for important citations and 

 writing diagnoses of the higher groups. Much has been done on 

 these lines, though I am bound to confess that not as much has 

 been accomplished as would have been under more favorable cir- 

 cumstances. I am, however, doing the best that I can, and am 

 making substantial progress. In this connection it should be taken 

 into consideration that the amount of labor involved in compiling 

 references becomes greater each year on account of the rapidly in- 

 creasing literature that has to be examined and culled." Dr. 

 Charles W. Richmond and B. H. Swales made further progress on 

 their report on the birds of Haiti and Santo Domingo, also in the 

 accumulation of data for a proposed catalogue of type specimens 

 of birds in the Museum. J. H. Riley completed the manuscript of a 

 paper on the birds of Celebes based on the collections made by 

 H. C. Raven and presented by Dr. W. L. Abbott. Dr. Leonhard 

 Stejneger has continued his work on the monograph of the turtles 

 of North America. He has also had occasion to review some Bornean 

 snakes in connection w^ith his recent paper on Carl Luraholtz's col- 

 lection. Miss Doris Cochran has described a new species of agamid 

 lizard from the Malay Peninsula, and in addition has identified a 

 large portion of the previously undetermined material in the division 

 of reptiles and batrachians. Barton A. Bean, in conjunction with 

 Dr. Henry W. Fowler, of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, has examined drawings and other material in connec- 

 tion with the report on the fishes of the Wilkes Exploring Expedi- 

 tion. A paper describing 18 new species contained in the collection 

 has been prepared and submitted for publication. 



17075—22 5 



