182 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM^ MILWAUKEE [Vol. 11. 



records as he worked. He was on a treasure hunt. Second, the one- 

 tenth he did secure, was represented by the pottery, implements and 

 other objects he had saved, and by which it might have been possible 

 to reconstruct at least a little of the life of the ancient inhabitants of 

 Walnut Canyon. But even this is now gone, for with the passage of 

 time, this collection became dissipated, until now we know nothing of 

 any ,of it. 



Hundreds of other examples might be cited of the wanton destruc- 

 tion of archeological remains by such pot hunters. Other hundreds 

 might be cited of the equally disastrous wrecking of archeological 

 sites by well meaning amateur collectors. It is hoped by all those 

 earnestly interested in the science, that the day will come when public 

 sentiment will prevent anyone other than a thoroughly trained arche- 

 ologist from conducting excavations, and when pot hunting will be a 

 lost art. 



Let us hope that the interesting problem of these lava caves at 

 Flagstaff, may remain unmolested until it can be undertaken by a thor- 

 oughly trained scientist, fully equipped f.or its solution. 



"STUFFED BIRDS" 



By H. L. Stoddard>^Q 



From a "time when the memory of man runneth not to the con- 

 trary" the term "stuffed birds" has appeared in our vocabulary. Like- 

 wise "stuffed birds," literally upholstered specimens, have burdened 

 altogether too many of our museums. With the rise of the modern en- 

 vironmental group, taxidermists have speedily departed from the old 

 paths of iniquity and have sought new and improved methods of 

 "mounting" to the end that now the skin of a bird is placed over a mani- 

 kin or "body," made with fully as great accuracy and fidelity to ana- 

 tomical details as is employed by a sculptor in modeling a piece of 

 statuary. 



Our birds are, therefore, not "stuffed" nowadays, and we sincerely 

 hope that the term "stuffed birds," as also "stuffed mammals" and 

 "stuffed animals" will soon follow the obsolete stuffing methods into 

 oblivion. 



The excellence of a mounted bird depends to a large extent on the 

 anatomical accuracy of the form, or manikin, on which the skin is 

 placed. This form or "body" as it is usually called by the bird taxi- 



'"Associate Taxidermist, Milwaukee Public Museum. 



