TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 79 



Scansoriformes, Barbets and Toucans 9 14 



Piciformes, Woodpeckers 4 8 



Passeriformes, Thrushes, Sparrows and 



other perching birds 362 1290 



813 2799 

 Summary: Orders, 26; Species, 813; Specimens, 2,799. 



DEPARTMENT OF REPTILES, 



Riiymoiul I,. Ditmars, Curator. 



Throughout the year the department was maintained at a 

 uniformly high standard, but there were various difficulties in 

 obtaining specimens and keeping the cages properly filled. With 

 the exception of a moderate number of Australian specimens 

 received during the summer, no foreign reptiles were obtainable. 

 The arrival of the Australian reptiles was rather a mishap, as 

 they spread a parasitic disease among several valuable speci- 

 mens that had long been in the collection, and these were neces- 

 sarily destroyed to prevent a general epidemic. Aside from these 

 casualties there were few losses of importance throughout the 

 year. 



With no market for the purchase of foreign specimens it 

 was necessary to fill the gaps from losses of the small specimens 

 with local material. Keeper George Palmer, of the Reptile House 

 staff, collected a large number of snakes of various species in 

 the mountains of Pennsylvania. Local collectors brought in 

 many specimens, and we made many purchases of snakes, liz- 

 ards, turtles and amphibians from collectors in the southern 

 states. A considerable number of small amphibians and lizards 

 required additional cages, as did the steadily growing economic 

 rodent-reptile collection, which has attracted much interest. 

 Owing to shortage of labor, the Reptile House keepers built all 

 the necessary cages in a workshop fitted up by themselves, and 

 produced excellent results, both in wood and metal construction. 



The establishment for breeding small stock used as freshly 

 killed food, and maintained for a number of years in a small 

 room of the Reptile House, was elaborated in design and re- 

 moved to a much larger room in the Small Mammal House where 

 much better results will be obtained. The room vacated was 



