152 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



ethnological material have been gathered for the anthropological 

 department of the Museum. 



Several years ago there was begun a series of handbooks on the 

 American Indians. The first of these, in two volumes, was the 

 Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, containing a de- 

 scriptive list of the stocks, confederacies, tribes, tribal divisions, 

 and settlements, with sketches of their history, archeology, man- 

 ners, arts, customs, and institutions. The second series. Handbook 

 of American Indian Languages, discusses the characteristics and 

 classification of the 55 linguistic families north of Mexico and their 

 relation to ethnolog3\ Further series, inchiding a Handbook of 

 American xintiquities, a Handbook of Aboriginal Remains East of 

 the Mississippi, and handbooks of the Indians of the several States, 

 are in preparation. Since 1879 the Bureau has published 34 volumes 

 of annual reports and G2 bulletins, covering every phase of American 

 Indian life and history. It has surveyed, excavated, and put in con- 

 dition for permanent preservation a number of aboriginal ruins in 

 the southwestern portion of the country, and is constantlj'' cooperat- 

 ing with the Department of the Interior and with archeological 

 societies in the work of saving these interesting sites for the benefit 

 of future generations. Field operations by the Bureau during recent 

 years in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming have brought 

 to light exceedingly interesting aboriginal remains that have been set 

 apart as national monuments. 



NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



In 1890 the Congress set apart 1G7 acres in the beautiful Rock 

 Creek Valley on the northwestern borders of Washington City as the 

 National Zoological Park, which w^as founded " for the advancement 

 of science and the instruction and recreation of the people," and Con- 

 gress placed its administration in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. The collection of mammals, birds, and reptiles 

 numbers about 1,400 individuals, representing some 360 species. Its 

 visitors now average about 1,000,000 each year, including many 

 groups of public and private school students accompanied b}^ their 

 teachers. 



Among the buildings in the park are the lion house, containing the 

 large cats and other animals, the monkey house, the bird house, 

 houses of the elephants, and the antelope house. There are also 

 inclosures for bears, pumas, wolves, and foxes; pools for sea lions 

 and other water-loving animals, and paddocks for deer, lama, yak, 

 and other ruminants; also many cages for small animals. Wild 

 turkeys, partridges, peacocks, squirrels, and wild rabbits wander in 

 perfect freedom throughout the park. 



