CLASSIFICATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND 

 LIFE HISTORY STUDIES 



The Bird and Mammal Laboratories of the Eu- 

 reau, located at the U.S. National Museum, per- 

 form research <>n the geographical variations of 

 birds and mammals and provide a wide scope of 

 services to the general public concerning the fauna 

 of the Continent. Other major responsibilities 

 involve preparing and maintaining the extensive 

 study collections, identification services to coop- 

 erators and scientists throughout the country and 

 in foreign lands, and much in the way of extension 

 education to many of the large number of people 

 who visit the Museum and the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



North American Mammal Collections:. — In No- 

 vember 1963, an account of the status of mammal 

 collections in North America appeared in the 

 Journal of Mammalogy. This represents the re- 

 sults of a survey made by a committee in 1962, and 

 follows similar surveys made in 1923 and 1945. 

 Tabulated are 265 public and 45 private collec- 

 tions, totalling 1,586,000 specimens. Most collec- 

 tions are in the United States: Canada has 25, 

 Costa Rica one, and Mexico one. There are 29 

 collections that have more than 5,000 specimens. 

 Of these the largest is the combined U.S. National 

 Museum-Biological Survey Collection of mam- 

 mals (.",(i.'pjinii) ; runners-up are the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, New York (200,000), 

 the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the Univer- 

 sity of California, Berkeley (130,000), and the 

 Museum of Zoology at the I 'niversity of Michigan, 

 Ann Arbor ( 107,000). 



Bird inn/ mammal xpecitnrns handled. — Cura- 

 torial work at the Bird and Mammal Laboratories 

 during 1963 is summarized as follows: specimens 

 received, 1,006 birds, 3,502 mammals; specimens 



installed in collections, 389 birds, 782 mammals; 

 specimens loaned for study, 347 birds, 751 mam- 

 mals; study skins or skeletons prepared, 205 birds, 

 2G mammals; identifications for outside submis- 

 sions, 283 birds, 82 mammals. Specimens carded 

 totaled 19,920 birds, and birds merged into 

 collections numbered 11,550. 



Sea otter studies. — Preparation of the mono- 

 graph on sea otters continued, with completion of 

 sections on food habits and feeding behavior, tag- 

 ging studies, field studies during 1954-63, list of 

 identification characteristics, and bibliography. 

 Progress was made on a comprehensive study of 

 the female reproductive tract, done with the Uni- 

 versity of Missouri. Field work was limited to 

 observations on Buldir Island. Sea otter studies 

 will be continued in 1964. 



Wild turkey monograph. — The monograph on 

 the wild turkey sponsored by the Wildlife Society 

 will contain two chapters by one of the Bureau's 

 specialists in ornithology. The first, chapter 1, 

 "Historical background," was completed, ap- 

 proved, and sent to the editor of Wildlife Mono- 

 graphs. Chapter 2, ''Taxonomy, distribution, and 

 present status," 1 was completed in draft except 

 for statistical verification of size and proportion 

 differences in the various races of turkeys, which 

 is under way. 



Preparation of bat hand hie/ manual. — The in- 

 creased interest in bats because of their involve- 

 ment with disease stimulated bat banding during 

 the year. Since 1953 the number of bands issued 

 has increased about 2,000 percent, and has become 

 so great that a procedural guide has become a ne- 

 cessity. Approximately 50 letters have been sent 

 to zoologists, primarily those actively engaged in 

 or supervising bat studies, announcing the pro- 

 posed manual and requesting suggestions which 

 would make the publication as accurate atid in- 

 formal ive as possible. 



Geographic variation in Canada geese. — The 

 wintering flock of Canada geese at Rochester, 

 Minn., numbering about 5,000 birds, was studied 

 in the Held, and specimens were preserved from 

 large numbers caught in cannon nets for banding. 

 Many others were handled and colors were com- 

 pared with a color chart. The birds appeared to 

 represent populations of the giant Canada goose 

 and Todd's Canada goose, as well as intermediates 

 between these and western and lesser Canada 

 geese. This mixture of racial types would be ex- 

 pected in this locality. 



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