^° 1 i909"^ 1 ] Correspondence. 217 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Where the Skeletons of American Birds may be Studied. 



Editors of 'The Auk': — 



Dear Sirs: — It is not my intention in the present communication to 

 furnish a list of either public or private institutions in this country where 

 may be found, for the use of students of the subject, a collection of skele- 

 tons of birds, much less to supply the names of those possessing such 

 material and who are willing to place it at the disposal of workers and 

 authors in this department of comparative anatomy. Not that such a 

 list would not be of use and value to ornithotomists generally were it 

 published, but, so far as my knowledge carries me, the necessary informa- 

 tion for it has, up to the present time, never been prepared. On the other 

 hand it is hoped that it may prove to be of some service to students of the 

 anatomy of birds to know where they may examine and study a represen- 

 tative collection of skeletons of the Class, all of which have been figured, 

 described and published in various scientific periodicals and found in all 

 the larger libraries everywhere. Reference is here made to the material 

 which composed what was up to a few months ago my own private collec- 

 tion. 



Through donation this is now the property of the New York State Mu- 

 seum at Albany, where it is being classified and otherwise cared for, in order 

 to render it available to such students having occasion to utilize it in their 

 work. It is in charge of Doctor John M. Clarke, Director of the Science 

 Division of the New York State Education Department at the State Hall 

 in Albany, who doubtless will be glad to furnish any information in regard 

 to it. So far as American species go, this is probably the largest collection 

 of the kind in this country, and the specimens all being unmounted and 

 described, they present data and the opportunity for study and comparison, 

 not as yet found elsewhere in this country. Either perfect skeletons or 

 parts of skeletons here represent nearly all the main genera of the birds of 

 the United States. Moreover, the majority of them are types, thus render- 

 ing them especially valuable for scientific reference. Perhaps I may be 

 pardoned for alluding here to the many cherished associations that are, 

 for me, forever bound up in this collection. It took many years to bring 

 it together, and in the work I was not only assisted by members of my 

 immediate family, now gone, but by many others whose names we find 

 among those on the last few pages of the autumn issue of 'The Auk.' 



It is a satisfaction to know that this collection of skeletons is now in 

 such good keeping, and from jEchmophorus to Sialia I trust they will do 

 duty for many a year yet to come. 



In closing, it may be of interest to my friends to know that there is now 

 passing through the press a special Bulletin, under the direction of the 



