\l[Sl':iM AUTES 



245 



Islaiiils, ami a desert bird group, depit-tiiig a bit 

 lit' till' Colorado desert near the Saltou Sea, rep- 

 resent three phases of bird life. The groujjs 

 have, been installed under the general direction of 

 l>r. Barton Warren Everniann, the director of 

 the museum. The manunal groups were ]ire])areil 

 niidiT the immediate supervision of M i-. Jiilin 

 U'owley, assisted by Mr. Joseph P. Herring, wliiie 

 the bird groups were prepared by Mr. Paul J. 

 I'nir. Most of the backgrounds were painted 

 hy Charles A. Corwin and Charles B. Hudson. 



A i)ix.\i':ix in hunur of Mr. V. W. Hodge, nntil 

 lately Chiel' of the Bureau of Ethnology, Wash- 

 ingliin, 1). ('., but now connected with the Mu- 

 seum ol' till' American Indian in New York City, 

 was given at tiie Faculty Club of Columbia Uui- 

 \ersity on the evening of March 9 by local an- 

 thropologists. The guests numbered about 

 thirty. After-dinner speeches, voicing the grati- 

 liratiou of the many friends of Mr. Hodge in 

 Xcw York that his work now lies in this city, 

 were made by Professor Franz Boas of Columbia 

 University, Dr. Clark Wissler and Dr. P. E. God- 

 (lard of the American Museum, and Mr. George 

 H. Pepper of the Museum of the American In- 

 dian. ]\Ir. Hodge responded in appi'eciative 

 terms. That hearty cooperation should exist 

 among all scientific institutions was the prevail- 

 ing sentiment. 



furnishes for these animals both food and 

 drink, appears in the group. Another group 

 shows the northwestern black bear, with its 

 young, in a den among the rocks. This bear, 

 in California as elseAvhere, may be either 

 black, brown, or even cinnamon, young of 

 two colors sometimes appearing in the same 

 litter. A second rocky den is occupied by a 

 family of mountain lions, largest of North 

 American cats and destructive to deer, being 

 said to destroy annually an average of one 

 deer a week. Moraga Valley, with Mt. 

 Diablo for a background, is a picturesque 

 setting for the coyotes. Four species of this 

 animal are recognized in California. In the 

 colder parts of its range it acquires a good 

 coat of fur which has a fair commercial 

 value. Raccoons and skunks, both well- 

 known fur bearers, are seen in another group, 

 while seals and sea lions are picturesquely 

 represented in three different regions south 

 of 8an Francisco. Water biids in the San 

 Joa(|uin Valley, sea Idnis on the Farallon 



Arcth' fishes are so few in munber that 

 almost all of them are known to science. 

 Yet rarely are any brought back in a suffi- 

 ciently good state of i:)reservation to be 

 studied to advantage. A small collection 

 obtained by the (Jrocker Land Expedition is 

 therefore of considerable interest. The 

 trout, or more properly speaking, charrs, 

 from this collection (the only fish which 

 were found in fresh water) are now being 

 examined by Dr. William C. Kendall of the 

 United States Bureau of Fisheries, who has 

 for many years made a special study of the 

 species and distribution of trout. The 

 marine fishes with the exception of the in- 

 teresting smeltlike capelin are mostly allied 

 to the cods and the sculpins, in fact, are 

 almost identical with cold-water species of 

 these groups which abound off rocky New 

 England coasts. A particularly fine se- 

 ries of Greenland sculpins, — large-mouthed, 

 thorny-headed fishes whose mottled colors 

 blend with the bottom on which they lie, will 

 furnish exhibition material to illustrate 

 sexual dimorphism. The males have more 

 contrasted colors and the first or spiny back 



