Report of the President 43 



and continued at work in that region until September, 191 1, 

 when his contract expired. In March of the present year he 

 was joined by Mr. Chapman, Mr. Louis A. Fuertes, the artist, 

 and Mr. Leo E. Miller, and for several months the work of the 

 whole party was carried on under the immediate direction of 

 Mr. Chapman. He then returned to the United States by way 

 of the Magdalena River for the purpose of making a reconnais- 

 sance for further work in western South America. After his 

 return Mr. Arthur A. Allen, of Cornell University, was sent to 

 replace Mr. Richardson in the field. Explorations have been 

 made from the Cauca Valley across the coast range to the 

 westward along several lines, and the work has been attended 

 with the most satisfactory results; over 3,000 birds and over 

 400 mammals have already been received. Recent letters 

 from the field indicate that the total collections for the year 

 will be* over 5,000 birds and about 700 mammals. An unusually 

 large proportion of the species of both mammals and birds are 

 new to the collection, and many are new to science. Arrange- 

 ments have been made for continuing the work during 1912, 

 when the scope of the work will be extended to other contigu- 

 ous fields of equal interest. The Andean section is a region 

 of highly diversified physical features, resulting in very diverse 

 conditions of environment. Collections are being made system- 

 atically from sea-level to the summits of the coast and main 

 ranges, which include areas of heavy precipitation and great 

 aridity, conditions which strongly impress themselves upon the 

 character of the fauna. 



Several large mammals have been added to the exhibition 

 series, and work is in progress on several mammal groups; 

 the Wild Boar Group, consisting of seven specimens of this 

 interesting species, presented by Mr. Walter Winans, is 

 nearing completion, as is also the Mount Orizaba Life-Zone 

 Group. The series of specimens of the Greenland Walrus, 

 mounted a number of years ago, have been combined in 

 a group and installed in the east section of the Mammal 

 Hall. 



The local mammal groups have been removed from the west 

 corridor on the mammal floor to the North American Mammal 

 Hall and reinstalled with painted backgrounds. 



