THE BIRD GROUPS. 



The collection of Bird Groups, nearly forty in number, is a 

 feature of the Bird Collection at present unique, so far as Ameri- 

 can museums are concerned, the only other similar collection 

 being in the South Kensington Museum in London. In these 

 groups an attempt is made to illustrate the most interesting phase 

 of bird life — the nesting habits of the species — by actual facsimiles 

 from life ; — by transferring to the Museum the branch on which 

 the nest is built, and reproducing each leaf, flower, and twig 

 artificially with the greatest accuracy as to all its details of color, 

 size, and position, and substituting it for the perishable natural 

 one ; or, in case of ground-nesting species, by taking a square 

 yard of the original sod, with all its varied vegetation, and repro- 

 ducing it with all possible care and accuracy. The nests, in most 

 cases, have never been removed from where the birds placed 

 them, whether on the ground or on a branch ; and for the most 

 part the birds shown are the pair which constructed the nest. 



Each group is provided with a descriptive label, stating when 

 and where it was taken, and giving a brief statement of the habits 

 and habitat of the species. 



The materials for the groups, including the birds, their nests, 

 and the accompanying accessories, were gathered, with few ex- 

 ceptions, by Mr. Jenness Richardson (in charge of the Depart- 

 ment of Taxidermy), who also designed the groups. The effective 

 modelling of the accessories — the plants, flowers, and foliage — is 

 the work of Mrs. E. S. Mogridge and her brother, Mr. H. Mintorn, 

 both formerly of the South Kensington Museum, where similar 

 work by them attracted the attention of Mr. Jesup, President of 

 the American Museum, and inspired him with a desire to have a 

 series of groups of our common native birds similarly represented.* 



* This method of illustrating birds and bird architecture being novel, a statement of how it 

 originated may be of interest. In 1877 Air. Theodore Walker, of Leicester, Kngland, having a 

 Pheasant's nest taken on his estate, sent to Mr. Mintorn and his sister, Mrs. Mogridge, then of 

 33 Soho Square, London, to have the surroundings modelled. These consisted of primroses, 

 bluebells, ferns, grasses, etc. The nest on being thus completed was sent as a present to the 

 British Museum. The novelty of the idea and the beauty of the work at once interested the 

 Museum authorities, who thereupon engaged the .Mintorns to model the surroundings of the 



