Breeding specimens of Canada geese from 

 Saskatchewan and Alberta were received for the 

 collection from the Canadian Wildlife Service, 

 which aided materially in clarifying the manner of 

 intergradation between the western and gianl 

 subspecies across t lie northern Grreal Plains. 

 Breeding specimens were also received from 

 Thelon River, Northwest Territories, which will 

 be valuable in filling a gap in the present knowl- 

 edge of variation in that important area. 



Methods of determining sex of /■rums. — In co- 

 operation with the National Zoological Park, six 

 lesser sandhill cranes were shipped from the Bitter 

 Lake National Wildlife Refuge for use in develop- 

 ing an instrument to aid in sexing cranes. With 

 the instrument devised, the following cranes were 

 sezed: IS live birds at Philadelphia Zoo: P5 live 

 birds at the National Zoo; 39 hunter-killed and 2 

 live lesser sandhills at Roswell, N. Mex. ; 10 live 

 lesser sandhills and 25 greaters held in captivity 

 at Monte Vista, Colo.; 5 live greaters at Santa Fe, 

 N. Mex. ; (> live cranes at the San Antonio Zoo (one 

 of these was a whooping crane) ; and 3 live greater 

 sandhills at the New Orleans Zoo. 



Even though the technique and instruments 

 used in sexing cranes are not fully perfected, much 

 progress has been made. 



Taxonomic review of the woodpeckers. — There 

 has been no taxonomic review of the American 

 woodpeckers in the past century. A review was 

 undertaken last year and is being conducted 

 jointly with an ornithologist at the University of 

 Illinois. A survey of the literature on woodpeck- 

 ers is essentially complete, and examination of 

 specimens of each genus has begun. The work is 

 expected to continue during 1964. 



Variation and hybridization in flickers. — Study 

 of flickers was initiated in 1955 and has progressed 

 to the point where the work consists largely in 

 summarizing and applying statistical tests to the 

 data, and preparing manuscripts and drawings for 

 publication. A major manuscript (260 pages) 

 dealing with hybridization in flickers has been pre- 

 pared and submitted for publication. Summariz- 

 ing of data on about 1,000 specimens (and 

 involving about 30 characters for each) will con- 

 tinue during the coming year. 



/■'/hi,, i ict nee studies. — The hairs of many mam- 

 mals in Trinidad were examined for pathogenic 

 fungi such as ringworm, which fluoresce when 

 activated by longwave (3660A.U.) ultraviolet 

 light. The fur, teeth, and nails of certain live and 



freshly dead mammals, especially bats, also were 

 found to fluoresce in varying colors and intensities. 



The excellent collections at the National 

 Museum afforded opportunity to continue these 

 investigations. Random examinations of a num- 

 ber of diverse mammals and birds were made, us- 

 ing both longwave and shortwave ultraviolet 

 lamps of the Division of Mineralogy, National 

 Museum. Further checks were made of various 

 substances used in skin preparation, such as 

 arsenic, alum, borax, and salt, to rule out some 

 obvious variables. 



A brief survey of a large series of rats, taken 

 over many years by different collectors in both Old 

 and New World localities, showed that both Rattus 

 nit tus and A', norvegicus fluoresced a brilliant 

 green-blue, while members of the R. rajah group 

 of the Malaysian region, failed to react under 

 black light. Of special interest was one specimen, 

 assigned to R. rattus, which failed to fluoresce: on 

 careful examination it was found to represent a 

 different genus, probably Mastomys. 



Among the pocket gophers, Geomys fluoresced 

 while Thomomys did not. Of the bats, Myotis 

 subulatus fluoresced but .1/. luoifugus, M. keeni, 

 and .1/. sodalis did not. Similar species of African 

 gerbils were more easily distinguished under ultra- 

 violet light than under ordinary electric illumina- 

 tion. A cursory examination of some typical bird 

 groups indicated that some owls and nighthawks 

 reacted to black light. In particular, the down 

 feathers of certain great horned owls fluoresced 

 variously from a fiery blood red to shades of vivid 

 orange. 



This study suggests that the technique may be 

 a useful taxonomic tool. The extent of its useful- 

 ness can be determined only after a systematic 

 examination of tin 1 study collections, necessarily 

 a long-term project. Required will be special 

 longwave light equipment, probably of a portable 

 type. The possible ramifications of such studies, 

 even if practical in only a relatively few critical 

 cases, are considered startling. 



The Mammals of Maryland. — The first draft of 

 the project report is nearing completion. Fifty- 

 live of the 62 land mammals occurring in Mary- 

 land have been studied and their distribution 

 within the State mapped. Each species or sub- 

 species is discussed with reference to the following 

 categories: Taxonomy, type locality, general dis- 

 tribution, distribution in Maryland, distinguish- 

 ing characteristics, measurements (cranial and 



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