114 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[V(.l. IC-No. 8 



William T. Hornaday. 



To the readers of the O, & O., who are the 

 (^or.LKCTOiis and Taxidermists of Ameriea, 

 the name of William T. Hornaday Is already 

 familiar, and as time advances with ns, will 

 rank with (Uvikk, Swainson and Watku- 

 TON. A brief sketeh of a career that fairly 

 outrivals taUis of the iniat;inatiiin woidd rcMjuire 

 volumes of space. 



Leaving collejic in 1S74 he yiehled to his 

 love of nature and entered the arena, hy 

 connecting himself witli Prof. Ward's Natnral 

 Science estahlishmont. The young taxidermist 

 * and naturalist student, by diligence and apti- 

 tude, soon showed evidence that he possessed 

 more than the ordinary ability, and the follow- 

 ing year saw him eijuipped and olT on his first 

 collecting trip abroad, Florida, and Cuba being 

 his destination. In Florida he "won his spurs" 

 as a collecting naturalist hy the discovery of 

 the true crocodile in that state. A full, detailed 

 account of tlie capture of a monster specimen 

 fourteen feet long (which is now in the 

 >fational Museum), with the attending exciting 

 struggle, convinced the establishment in wliDse 

 interest he was working that there was true 

 metal in his make-up. In Cuba he nearly lost 

 his life at the hands of an ignorant .Spanish 

 volunteer, who mistook him for an escape<l 

 l)risoner. 



Two years later (lS7(i) founil liim making a 

 tour to the West Indies and SiMith America. 

 This trip proved to be a very successful one. 

 He secured many zolixigical specimens, and im- 

 miidiately upon Ins return Prof. Ward, with a 

 keen appreciation of Mr. Ilomaday's ability, 

 again sent him forth, this time on a more ex- 

 tended trip, covering India, C'eylon, the Malay 

 Peninsula, liorneo and around the world 

 Many of our readers have no doubt read the 

 story of this trip in Mr. Hornaday's book 

 7'mo Vears in the. Jiinr/le.* In India, among 

 otiicr tilings he secured many specimens of the 

 crocodile on the liiver Jumna. Page after 

 page could be filled in describing the shooting 

 of elephants, bears, tigers, itc. The largest 

 tiger, taken the year lie was there, was shot by 

 liim. It measured nine feet eight iiuhes and 

 weighed 49.") pounds. The Indian collection 

 tilled five large w.agons when ready to ship. 

 In Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula more cle. 

 phants, crocodiles, with many rare things, were 

 taken, including marine curios. Pas.sing to 

 Borneo he paid his respects to the orang utans, 



• V«r s;i1e Ijy Frank ISIakc Wuli^tcr Ci 



.'lice $S.m. 



and from the swamps and jungles, teeming 

 with malaria and danger, he secured f<irty- 

 thrce specimens of these monkey-men. A 

 group of them prepared by him and now in the 

 National Museum is one of the wonders of 

 that institution. Three years were occupied 

 on this trip. 



IJeturning, Mr. Ilorniiday devoted liis atten- 

 tion to Autistic Taxiuku.my, and developed 

 such remarkable skill that the attention of the 

 public was at once directed to him, and in 1K82 

 lie was appointed Chief Taxiiieumist to the 

 United .States National Museum, the highest 

 position that could be offered to the Professor. 

 This position he retained for eight years, and 

 during that time a remarkable advance was made 

 in the character of the collections there. During 

 this period he was sent to Montana, to secure 

 specimens of the American IJison (butl'ahi), 

 which were nearly extinct, and the government 

 recognized it as the last chance to ad<l them to 

 the collection. His usual success did not fail 

 and 2:i specimens were obtained, their skins 

 saved and skeletons as well. A groii]) of six 

 from this lot, preserved by him and now at the 

 museum, is claimed by tliose wlin liavc seen 

 them, to be the finest work of an AxiioiacvN 



T.\XinEI!.MIST 



T/zc Ej-teii)iiiint!on of the Aiiiei-ic((n lU.iati, 

 published by the Smithsonian Institution in 

 18S9, written by William T. Iloinaday, (see 

 O. & O., Vol. XV, No. 2, p. :V2) shows that if 

 there had been at the institutiim a iii:iii of his 

 stamp years ago to give warning, that noble ani- 

 mal might to-day have still in a great measure 

 been retained. Having wheeled the work in his 

 ilepartment well into line, he next gave his at- 

 tention to the establishment of the National 

 Zoological Park, wiiicii the W^vsiiinoton at- 



TIIOIilTIES S.VY OWES ITS EXISTENCE MOKE TO 

 Ills EFFOIiTS THAN ANY OTIIEU MAN. The 



park was established by Congress in 1880, in 

 accord with the i^ians and estimates of cost 

 mode tjy Mr. Hornaday, who was to ue rrs 

 SupEiiiNTENDENT, in charge of its iiraetieal 

 development. The park was placed under the 

 secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, »•/,</ 

 xtrair/htway orerlhrevi all Mr. Jlorniidny's 

 plans, which led to the prompt resignation of 

 the latter, and when he went out the ]•.r^AI.^•s 

 of the enterprise went also, and it may be 

 safely said that it w-as a national eahunity, and 

 goes to show that imlilies and science do not 

 travel well together. 



In our May issue we stated tliat we could not 

 unilerstanil how that institutidu cnuld allord to 

 part witli liiin. We think we now know why 



