2IO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



That is, each group is accompanied by a panoramic background, 

 painted from nature, of the country in which the studies for the 

 group were made. 



It is desired in these large paintings to present so wide a variety 

 of types of American scenery that when the undertaking is com- 

 pleted we shall have an adequate representation of American 

 scenery. Such an exhibit will demand attention not only because 

 of its beauty, but also because of its educational value. No one 

 could examine it without receiving more or less definite impres- 

 sions of the topography of this country, of the appearance of its 

 prairies, plains and mountains, its deserts and marshes. 



In selecting subjects for the season's work, therefore, the 

 country as well as its bird-life was taken into consideration. 

 In Nebraska it was proposed to study Prairie Hens and their 

 home; in Wyoming, the Sage Hen of the sage plains, and the 

 Golden Eagle in the clay bluffs; in southern Arizona, the birds of 

 the remarkable cactus-grown deserts; in the Coast Range of 

 southern California, the California Condor, and among the tule 

 lakes of southeastern Oregon, the White Pelican and other water- 

 birds which nest there in immense numbers. 



Thanks to the cooperation of local naturalists and of the 

 various correspondents whose advice had been secured in advance 

 the work of the expedition was performed on schedule time, 

 material for all the contemplated groups being secured. 



In Nebraska, through the assistance of Professor Lawrence 

 Bruner of the State University and Mr. Wm. G. Mast of the 

 Forest Service, at Halsey, we lost no time in finding a country' 

 where Prairie Hens are still abundant. The birds were indulging 

 in the peculiar antics which mark the advent of their breeding 

 season, and with the aid of a blind the writer succeeded in making 

 a study of their singular evolutions at close range. 



At Tucson we received much valuable advice and information 

 from the staff of the Carnegie Desert Laboratory, and have 

 especially to thank Dr. D. T. MacDougal, the Director of the 

 Department of Botanical Research of the Carnegie Institution. 

 Our camp here was most favorably situated for the prosecution 

 of our work, which, it may be added, so far as the vegetation is 

 concerned, is by far the most ambitious of any we have thus far 



