44 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1925 



of regions from which have been derived important elements of the 

 flora and fauna of our own country. 



Momvmals. — The mammals collected by the National Geographic 

 Society's Central China expedition under F. E. Wulsin totaled 367 

 specimens, and those from the expedition into Yunnan, Szechwan, 

 southeastern Tibet under the direction of Dr. J. F. Rock, 60 speci- 

 mens, among them several genera and species new to the Museum. 



Though Dr. W. L. Abbott came 85 mammals from Hunan, China, 

 the last specimens collected by C. M. Hoy before his death. Chinese 

 accessions further include 49 mammals secured by Rev. D. C. Gra- 

 ham, among them a large monkey not hitherto represented in the 

 Museum, and 14 specimens collected by A. deC. Sowerby in south- 

 eastern China, received through Col R. S. Clark. The Curator, 

 Gerrit S. Miller, in a trip to the island of Haiti secured a rich harvest 

 of bones of recently extinct mammals, among them representatives of 

 new genera and species belonging to the peculiarly interesting cave 

 fauna of the Greater Antilles. A baleen whale that stranded at 

 Walnut Point, Va., of a species not often taken on the coast of the 

 United States, was secured for the Museum by A. J. Poole and C. E. 

 Mirguet of the Museum staff. Secretary Walcott, during his ex- 

 plorations in Ca,nada, collected a mule deer and three Rocky Moun- 

 tain sheep. A collection of 28 small mammals fom Montenegro, a 

 region not hitherto represented in the collection, was obtained from 

 V. Martino, Belgrad, Jugoslavia. 



Birds. — ^The numerous, often serious, gaps in our collections, due 

 in great extent to the fact that the Museum has no general appropria- 

 tion for the purchase of specimens, have of late years been lessened 

 by the generosity of B. H. Swales, honorary assistant curator in the 

 division of birds, who has placed funds at the disposal of the Museum 

 for the purchase of needed material. In this way Mr.'^ Swales, during 

 the present year, added to the bird collection 134 skins, covering 5 

 genera and 26 species previously not possessed by the Museum. 

 Among these were Monias henschi, from Madagascar, a genus of 

 uncertain affinity allied to Mesoenas, and Goturnix no'vaezedlandiae, 

 the extinct New Zealand quail. Most of the novelties were from 

 Madagascar. The associate curator. Dr. Charles W. Richmond, like- 

 wise purchased and presented to the Museum 54 bird skins, chiefly 

 from South America, including 20 genera and 23 species new to the 

 national collection, among them specimens of the vulturine parrot 

 {Gypopsittacus vuUurinus), the curl-crested toucan {Beauharnaisms 

 heauharnaisii) , and the Para manakin {Pipra opalizans). 



The Chinese collections received, totaling 4,215 specimens, exceed 

 greatly any previous accessions from thati important part of the 

 world. The collection by Dr. Joseph F. Rock, presented through the 



