36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 6 



their mainland representatives. Following return to the mainland, 

 work continued until the end of February, with San Felix in eastern 

 Chiriqui as a base. Collections made here over a considerable area 

 between the seacoast and the inland mountains offer many valuable 

 data in plotting distribution. Most of the original forest has been 

 cut to provide pastureland, so the information secured is of special 

 importance since soon all forest areas will be gone. After some furth- 

 er observations at Barro Colorado Island and on the savannas near 

 Pacora, work for the season terminated on March 10. 



EXHIBITION 



Modernization of selected exhibition halls was continued in 1956 

 by a Congressional allotment of $411,500. Construction by outside 

 contractors began in the Power Hall in July 1955. Contracts were 

 awarded for the second American Indian Hall in April 1956 and the 

 Health Hall in May 1956 ; construction was commenced in these halls 

 in May and June 1956, respectively. During March 1956, the new 

 Bird Hall and the east side of the North American Mammal Hall 

 were completed and opened for public inspection. 



The new Bird Hall, after months of planning by Curator Herbert 

 Friedmann, was officially opened to the public on March 22, 1956, at 

 an evening reception sponsored jointly by the Smithsonian Institution 

 and the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. John E. Graf, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, reviewed the pro- 

 gram for modernization of exhibits, and Irston It. Barnes, president 

 of the District of Columbia Audubon Society, commented on the inter- 

 est shown by ornithologists in the methods employed for presentation 

 of topical exhibits. Guy Emerson, honorary president of the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies, complimented the Institution and 

 Dr. Friedmann on the successful completion of this hall and cut the 

 ribbon, thereby officially opening the hall. 



In the hall of North American Mammals, habitat groups for the 

 puma, wolf, pronghorn antelope, and white-tailed deer were opened to 

 the public. Four previously completed groups were again shown to 

 visitors after being shut off by construction work for more than a year. 



During the current fiscal year, 37 new exhibit units, miniature 

 dioramas, and life-size lay figures are being developed in the second 

 Indian hall. These units will portray the manner of living of Indian 

 tribes that formerly occupied the forested eastern third of the United 

 States ; the nomadic hunting tribes of the Great Plains ; the salmon- 

 fishing and totempole-building Indians of the Northwest Pacific coast ; 

 and the Arctic Eskimo of Greenland and Alaska. The over-all plans 

 for this hall and the case layouts were prepared by Associate Curator 

 John C. Ewers in collaboration with Exhibits Specialist John E. 



