KEPOET OF ASSISTANT SECEETARY. 81 



J.— EXPLORATIONS. 



In October, 1887, a Department of Li vingAnimals was organized, chiefly 

 for the j)urpose of affording opportunity for study in connection with 

 certain kinds of work then being prosecuted in the Museum. It was 

 decided that hereafter all gifts of living animals which might be offered 

 to the Museum would be accepted, cared for in the best manner possi- 

 ble, and exhibited, with due credit to the donors. It was also decided 

 that whenever it was found possible to purchase a living wild animal 

 for study purposes at a nominal price, it might be done. In accordance 

 with this determination, Mr.W. T. Hornaday was permitted by the U. S. 

 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries to make a collecting trip on tish 

 car No. 1 to and through Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Ore- 

 gon, and Utah in the interest of this department. 



Mr. Hornaday left Washington on October 8, with Mr. J. Frank Ellis, 

 in charge of the car, and proceeded westward. In the course of the 

 work of distributing fish the car made brief stops at St. Paul ; Fargo, 

 Dakota ; Mandan and Helena, Montana ; Tacoma, Washington ; Port 

 land, Oregon; Mountain Home, Idaho, and Salt Lake City, Utah. As 

 soon as it became known at those points that the National Museum 

 was ready to accept gifts of living animals, several specimens were 

 presented, and others of desirable kinds were purchased at nominal 

 prices. The most important of the animals collected and brought to 

 Washington by Mr. Hornaday were the following : 1 Columbian black- 

 tailed dQer (Cdriacits cohimbianus), 1 mule deer {Cariacus macrotis), 1 

 white-tailed deer {G. virgmiaiius), 1 cinnamon bear ( Ursus cinnamomum)^ 

 2 badgers [Taxidea americana), 2 red foxes {Vulpes fulvus fulvus), 1 

 cross fox (Vulpes fulvus decussatus), 2 spotted lynxes {Lynx maoulafus), 

 5 prairie dogs {Gynomys ludovicianus), and a golden eagle {Aquila 

 chryscetus). All of these animals were brought back in the fish car, a 

 task which involved infinite labor and care. The trip, on the whole, was 

 a highly successful one, and the relations established with Western 

 hunters and collectors are certain to prove of value to the Museum. The 

 car returned to Washington on November 8, having traveled over 7,000 

 miles. 



In the summer of 1887 arrangements were made for a joint expedition 

 by the U. S. Fish Commission and the Smithsonian Institution to Funk 

 Island and the coast of Newfoundland. The Fish Commission tendered 

 the use of the schooner Grampus, which was to be engaged, under the 

 command of Capt. J. W. Collins, in the investigation of certain fishery 

 problems, and Messrs. F. A. Lucas and William Palmer were detailed 

 from the National Museum to accompany the expedition. 



An examination of Funk Island was made, and a large number .of 

 bones of the G-reat Auk were collected, including several crania and 

 many hundred vertebrae, and leg and wing bones. The coasts of New- 

 foundland, of New Brunswick, and the Magdalene Island and adjacent 

 H. Mis. 142, pt. 2 ^ 



