

Steller's sea lion (Eumetopias stelleri), subject of the above group in the new Museum of tlie Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, ranges from Aiio Nuevo Island, near Santa Cruz (on wliich this 

 rookery is located), northward to Bering Strait. The large male in the center of the group weighed 1810 

 pounds. Although most fishermen believe sea lions to be very destructive to commercial fisheries, investi- 

 gations have proved the contrary, and they should be protected at least to some extent. A second species, 

 the California sea lion (Zalophus calif ornianus) , is common from San Francisco southward. It is an in- 

 telligent animal and is frequently seen in captivity in zoological parks 



Although the position of the Aztec ruin 

 in the chronological sequence of the South- 

 west marks it as relatively ancient, its ex- 

 cellent masonry and the manufactured 

 articles collected in last year 's work show 

 that its inhabitants had developed a wealth 

 of material culture which the Pueblos never 

 surpassed in later times. 



In its new museum in Golden Gate Park, 

 San Francisco, the California Academy of 

 Sciences has recently installed a number of 

 habitat groups illustrating the most inter- 

 esting species of California mammals and 

 birds in their natural environment. Both 

 the taxidermist and the artist visited the 

 various regions where the animals were 

 obtained, in order to make the settings, 

 244 



whether painted or natural, as realistic as 

 possible. The case for each group is twenty- 

 five feet long, thirteen feet deep, and eight- 

 een feet high, with a forty-foot curving 

 background. As there are no windows in the 

 exhibition halls, the lighting being from 

 above, reflections in the front glass of the 

 groups are almost entirely avoided. The 

 northern mule deer and black-tailed deer, 

 found in the coast mountains of California, 

 form the subjects of two groups showing the 

 beautiful scenery of that region, while the 

 elk and antelope, of northeastern California, 

 are no less charmingly presented. In con- 

 trast with these is the desert-like region in 

 southern California, in the vicinity of San 

 Jacinto Peak, where mountain sheep are 

 fairly common. The barrel cactus, which 



