NEWS NOTES 129 



on a collecting trip to the region of Scaumenac bay (Quebec), 

 and from this classical locality it is hoped that they will secure 

 many forms of the earliest fish-life of the American continent 

 These important forms, it may be added, have hitherto been 

 either misrepresented or very imperfectly represented in the 

 Museum's collections. In the latter part of the season Mr. Hussa- 

 kof will also visit several of the localities in Ohio, which yielded 

 good results during the past season, and if time permits he will 

 extend his trip to Iowa and Wisconsin in the further interest 

 of the collections. 



Two important collections of Mexican birds and mammals 

 have recently been received from Mr. J. H. Batty, one made in 

 the southern part of the State of Jalisco, the other in the State 

 of Oaxaca. They contain many species not sent in his former 

 collections. The birds include many large species, such as 

 Hawks and Owls, Macaws, Parrots and the Mexican Turkey, and 

 among the mammals are large series of Bats, Deer and various 

 carnivores. 



The specimen of the great polar bear (Thalardas maritimus 

 (Phipps)) which was collected by Commander Robt. E. Peary 

 at Payer Harbor, Greenland, in the spring of 1902 has been 

 mounted at the Museum by Mr. James L. Clark and temporarily in- 

 stalled in the Main Hall of Mammals (No. 204, of the Second 

 Floor). This magnificent specimen is a striking illustration of 

 the advances which have been made within the past few years 

 in the art of taxidermy. The animal is exhibited as if in the 

 act of descending an iceberg. 



The Department of Ethnology has completed the first part 

 of the installation illustrating the general features of the civiliza- 

 tion of the Indians of the Great Plains. Some of the character- 

 istics of these interesting tribes are: their almost complete 

 dependence upon the flesh of the buffalo for food, the exclusive 

 use of a tent made of buffalo skin stretched around a conical 

 framework of poles, the very limited use of pottery, the great 

 development of work in skins, the practice of the Sun Dance 

 and the worship of the buffalo. The specimens in this exhibit 



