72 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



a satisfaction to report that the Passerine birds, which are the ones 

 most consulted, arc at present well arranged and entirely accessible. 

 About half the study collection, comprising, perhaps, 05,000 specimens, 

 is without standard Museum labels, and many of the water birds need 

 new labels. Some progress in replacing worn out labels was made 

 during the year. 



The condition of the collection of birds' eggs is very satisfactory. 

 For a collection of such great size the proportion of perfect specimens 

 is remarkabl}^ large. Considerable progress was made in the rearrange- 

 ment of both eggs and nests, but more new cases will be required 

 before it can be completed. 



The curator of the Division of Reptiles and Batrachians was without 

 assistants this year until April, and progress in the rearrangement of 

 the study series was necessarily slow. A considerable advance has 

 been made, however, and the collection is now in good condition and 

 its accessibility increased. 



In the Division of Fishes, the principal operation was the prepara- 

 tion of a series of 50 sets of specimens for distribution to educational 

 institutions. These sets average about sixty species each, making a 

 total of some 3,250 individual specimens in all. Until the staff of this 

 division is increased, little can be done beyond keeping the collection 

 from deteriorating. 



The study series of mollusks is all in fairly good condition and is 

 accessible, so that anj' specimens wanted can be brought to hand in a 

 few moments. The collection of Naiades was put in perfect order, 

 and the cataloguing and numbering of the boxes of duplicates brought 

 up to date. The remainder of the Jeffreys collection of shells is now 

 most in need of attention. On account of the intricacies of the case 

 the work can not be done rapidly. As in other divisions the need of 

 more space is keenly felt. 



The great systematic collection of insects of all orders, with the 

 exception of the Rhynchota, is at present in excellent condition, well 

 arranged, and accessible to students. The curator of the Division of 

 Insects, Dr. L. O. Howard, reports as follows on the work of the 

 division: 



Tlie insect collections are in excellent condition, increasing rapidly in the differ- 

 ent orders, and all being rearranged in the standard insect drawers,^ in systematic 

 order. It is believed, if the same liberality is continued in supplying us with these 

 standard insect drawers as last year, that tbe valuable collections in the different 

 orders will be soon safely secured and permanently rearranged. 



The Lepidoptera are now all arranged in these drawers and this order is in excel- 

 lent shape. This work has been done almost entirely by Doctor Dyar, who deserves 

 great credit, not only for making many additions to the collection through his friends 

 and correspondents, but also for putting the collection in such admirable order. 



Mr. E. A. Schwarz still continues the rearrangement of the beetles, and during the 

 past few months has rearranged several families down to the Lampyridaj. It will, 

 however, be a long time before this large order can be rearranged, and Mr. Schwarz 



