26 Report of the President 



C. Sanford, of New Haven, are engaged in getting together a 

 complete collection of the shore and oceanic birds of South 

 America, which, with Dr. Sanford's private collection of shore 

 birds, is being deposited in the Museum. 



EUROPE 



Supplementing the archaeological work projected by the 

 President during his visit to the prehistoric caverns of France, 

 Spain and northern Italy last year, Curator Nelson visited fifty 

 important sites of archaeological interest in Europe and through 

 the courtesy of Professors Boule and Obermaier secured data 

 for the construction of a model of a cavern of Castillo, Spain. 



AFRICA 



The Congo Expedition, under Messrs. Lang and Chapin, 



which in cooperation with the Belgian Government has been 



_» _ carrying on active field work for the past four 



_ ,. . years, is now devoting its entire attention to the 



Expedition \ . ' r . lt 6 . 



shipment of its collections. It is expected that 



the expedition will reach New York early in the present year. 

 Messrs. Lang and Chapin have had a phenomenal record. 

 They have not been ill a day during a four years' sojourn in 

 the tropics and have gotten together probably the most exten- 

 sive and valuable collection of the Congo fauna ever assembled. 

 When added to what we already possess through earlier expe- 

 ditions to Africa, our African collections will not need any 

 large additions, and field work in this continent will be dis- 

 continued for the present. Among the important desiderata 

 in our African mammal collections are specimens of the 

 Gorilla, which it is hoped that the Museum may be able to 

 secure through the cooperation of the New York Zoological 

 Society. 



Our East African collections have been further enriched 

 during the year by the Third African Expedition, under 

 William S. Rainsford, who returned in April, and by gifts 

 from Paul J. Rainey and A. Barton Hepburn. It is the 

 wealth of material secured by these expeditions which makes 

 so imperative adequate plans for the preparation of our col- 

 lections. 



