III. THE HABITAT GROUPS OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS 



BH .J. A. Alln, 



THK group exhibits illustratiiifi the life hahits and natural enxiron- 

 inent of mammals and birds in the American Museum of Natural 

 History now exceed one hundred and fifty in number, and nearly 

 half of them, in respect to scope, size and accuracy of detail, are admittedly 

 more elaborate than any similar exhibits in other museums. The con- 

 struction of the smaller groups l)egan some twenty-five years ago, and later 

 much larger groups were undertaken. In more recent years similar exhibits 

 have been installed in other American museums, making a more or less 

 general departure from the century -old methods of museum exhibition 

 that prevailed generally almost to tlic end of the nineteenth century. 



The educational advantages of these groups consist in their realism. 

 The Bison (Jroup, with its area of fifteen by thirty feet, represents a 

 characteristic bit of the Plains, the former typical home of the American 

 bison (miscalled "buffalo"), and includes not only the original sod c{)\ered 

 with real " Iniffalo grass," but also a real buffalo trail, a weathered bison skull, 

 and bunches of cacti, besides an old bull and cow, a young calf and young 

 bulls of different ages, the ensemble illustrating most impressixcly and 

 accurately the actual appearance of this animal and its home surroundings. 

 Large explanatory labels give briefly its history, while on accompanying 

 maps is shown the vast area of its original range and the gradual restriction 

 of this range to the few points where it still exists, in limited preserves 

 under governmental protection. 



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