REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 11 



ceedecl to Victoria Falls, and from there he and Dr. Shantz, who was 

 representing the United States Department of Agriculture, left for 

 the Kafue River region, where they camped for several weeks. 



After spending some Aveeks along the Congo, they reached Lake 

 Tanganyika, where camp was made for about a month. The next stop 

 of any length was in Uganda, where a few days over a month was 

 spent in collecting in the Bundogo Forest. As the whole forest was 

 in the sleeping-sickness area, it Avas necessary to get a special permit 

 from the district commissioner to enter it, and the native boys engaged 

 by Mr. Raven had to be examined by a doctor before entering the area 

 and again on leaving it. At the close of the year, Mr. Raven was at 

 Masindi, in Uganda, preparing to return to the United States. 



Only one shipment of material had been received by the end of the 

 year, consisting of 239 mammals and birds from southern Africa, 

 which with the remainder of the specimens still to be received from 

 Mr. Raven, will be of great value in working up the African material 

 already in the Museum collections. 



AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. 



Through the continued generosity of Dr. W. L. Abbott, the Insti- 

 tution sent Mr. Charles M. Hoy to Australia for the purpose of col- 

 lecting vertebrates, especially those which are in danger of extermina- 

 tion. As the Museum at present contains only about 200 specimens of 

 the remarkable Australian mammal fauna, this expedition is of the 

 utmost scientific importance, especially since in the future it will be 

 impossible to secure an adequate representation of the fauna owing 

 to their rapid extermination. 



Mr. Hoy began work in Australia about the 1st of June, 1919, and 

 by the close of the past fiscal year one shipment had been received at 

 the Museum, consisting of 240 mammals and 228 birds. The follow- 

 ing passages from reports and letters received from Mr. Hoy give 

 an idea of the conditions under which the collecting was carried on: 



Nine weeks were spent in the Wandandian rejiion (19 miles southwest of 

 Norwra, New South Wales), with the result of but 131 mammals and 124 birds 

 collected. Among the mammals 10 genera and 12 species are represented in my 

 collection. 



The greatest agent working toward the extermination of the native animals 

 is the fox ; next comes the cattle and sheep jnen \vho distribute poison by the 

 cartload in the effort to reduce the rabbits. This has also caused or helped 

 to cause the extermination of some of the ground-inhabiting birds. Another 

 great agent is the bush fires which sweep over the country. These are often 

 lit intentionally in order to clear out the undergrowth and thus increase the 

 grass. 



The extermination of the native mammals has apparently gone much further 

 than is generally thought. Many species that were plentiful only a few years 

 ago au"e now almost, if not altogether, extinct. Diseases have also played a 



