The Laysan Island group made for the State University of Iowa by Mr. Homer R. Dill. This 

 group shows a portion of the albatross rookery on the little island of Laysan where millions of birds 

 find a home in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 



habitat groups thus involved a slight de- 

 parture from nature, in that while the 

 background depicted an actual scene, the 

 foreground was often generalized and 

 this involves the whole question of how 

 far it is allowable to depart from actuali- 

 ties. May we combine animals from 

 different localities or show together those 

 taken at different seasons? Shall we 

 fabricate our soil and "fake" our trees? 

 Personally the writer believes that all 

 these things are permissible, with certain 

 restrictions, nay, in some instances, must 

 be done, not merely to make a group at 

 all, but to enhance its educational 

 value. For example, a bison in his 

 winter coat may be introduced into a 

 group with the mother and young and 

 a baby moose placed with an antlered 



60 



bull — in no other way can you com- 

 plete the life cycle and tell the whole 

 story. 



Dr. Chapman found it physically 

 impossible to bring away the water- 

 soaked nests of the flamingos; Mr. 

 Cherrie found equal difficulty with the 

 sodden nests of the guacharo birds, while 

 to carry off the cave in which they were 

 found would have defied even Hercules 

 in his prime. Here certainly, fabrica- 

 tion is a necessity; and if so much, why 

 not more? If we cannot import a tree 

 from the forests of Venezuela, let us 

 "adapt" an ironwood from Vermont, 

 whereon a colony of howling monkeys 

 may disport themselves. In this case 

 it is the animals and not their surround- 

 ings that are to be emphasized and the 



