^°9of^] Notes and Nexvs. 247 



North American birds. At first the groups were mostly limited to the 

 Passeres, and each group usually consisted of a single pair of birds, with 

 its nest and eggs, or young, as the case might be, placed in their natural 

 surroundings, reproduced in facsimile. Later more ambitious pieces 

 were attempted, but not till 1901 was there anything on a very large 

 scale. 



In that year the 'Bird Rock Group' was installed containing seventy- 

 three birds, illustrating seven species, and forming a group seventeen 

 and a half feet long and six feet ten inches high. The species represented 

 are the Common and Briinnich's Mvirres, the Razor-billed Auk, the 

 Kittiwake Gull, the Puffin, Gannet, and Leach's Petrel, the scene being 

 a section of a cliff on Bird Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where all 

 these species nest in close proximity. The reproduction is realistic in 

 the highest degree, so that the group gives the visitor to the Museum an 

 exact representation of the home life of the breeding sea bird colonies in 

 the far north. 



This masterpiece of the taxidermist's art is admirably supplemented by 

 a large descriptive label, and with large photographs from nature of 

 portions of the Bird Rock colony, and a diagrammatic explanation of the 

 group. In addition to the label, the Museum has issued a ' guide leaflet ' 

 to the group, in the form of a supplement to the 'American Museum 

 Journal,' (Vol.1, No. 11, Oct., 1901), forming an octavo pamphlet of 24 

 pages, with numerous half-tone illustrations from photographs from 

 nature and of the group. The text gives a history of this famous Bird 

 Rock from the time of its first description by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to 

 the present time, followed by an enumeration and description of the sea 

 birds still breeding there. This pamphlet is placed on sale, for the 

 convenience of visitors, at the nominal price of five cents per copy. 



A companion piece to the Bird Rock Group has just been installed, 

 representing, on a similar scale and in an equally realistic manner, the 

 bird life of the seashore as illustrated at Cobb's Island, on the coast of 

 Virginia. This group is of the same length and height as the Bird Rock 

 Group, but the width has been considerably extended, to give room for 

 the better display of the birds, which occupy a sandy beach instead of 

 the irregular face of a cliff. 



To supply the background effect, furnished by the cliff itself in the 

 Bird Rock Group, resort has been very successfully made to the skill of 

 the panoramic artist, who has supplied a canvas background appropri- 

 ately supplementing the scene suggested by the birds in the foreground, 

 with so skillful an effect that the line of junction of the real and the 

 simulated is difficult to distinguish. The number of species included is 

 seven, represented by sixty-three specimens, and their haunts and manner 

 of nesting are presented with extreme fidelity of detail. The birds repre- 

 sented are the Black Skimmer, the Common Tern, the Least Tern, the 

 Gull-billed Tern, the Oyster-catcher, and the Wilson Plover. The scene 

 is a sandy beach, strewn with oyster and other sea shells, interspersed with 



