THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



noceros. For want of space many of these specimens are 

 only temporarily arranged. 



Quite naturally the visitor's attention will be drawn to 

 the group of king penguins on the north side of the hall. 

 In this case is an actual reproduction of a penguin breed- 

 ing ground or rookery on South Georgia Island, Antarc- 

 tica. These grotesque but gorgeously colored birds are 

 shown in various stages of growth. The two central birds, 

 solemnly examining one of their eggs, and one on the right 

 hand, illustrating the method of feeding by regurgitation, 

 are especially attractive. 



Arranged in rectangular form in the center of the hall is 

 a series of groups which include the Texas, timber and dia- 

 mond-backed rattlesnakes, a copperhead, den, the Gila 

 monster, iguana, pine snake, deadly moccasin and harmless 

 water snakes. All are mounted in careful detail, each 

 group in surroundings like those in which they are found in 

 life. 11 



Interest centers, however, in the groups on the south- 

 westerly side of the hall illustrating the life habits of cer- 

 tain North American reptiles. 12 The Museum's artists have 

 here emphasized the character of the work required in the 

 reproduction of groups, intended to represent the natural 

 haunts of the reptiles, by a technique so fine as frequently 

 to cause the observer to wonder which portion is real and 

 which artificial. For the best effect the visitor should stand 



11 The Batrachians of the Vicinity of New York City .15. 



12 Methods and Results in Herpetology .05. 



48 



