78 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
desired, so that the park may take advantage from time to time of 
opportunities to obtain rare and conspicuous animals not before 
exhibited. 
Aviary building.—The need of a new house for the exhibition of 
birds continues to become more urgent from year to year. The old 
building is rapidly becoming unfit for use and the public aisles are 
entirely too narrow for the crowds of people who now visit the park. 
The cost of maintenance during the past year has reached a sum 
greater than ever before. Owing to the increased cost of almost every 
item, the amount required for food for animals was $33,149, and 
repairs and new improvements are similarly expensive. It is urgent, 
therefore, if there is to be any expenditure for improvements or for 
necessary repairs that an increase be made in the general appropria- 
tion for the expenses of the park. 
Respectfully submitted. 
N. Houuister, Superintendent. 
Dr. Cartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, D. C. 
