Report of the President. 1 7 



Group (all of which have been completed), not to mention 

 other groups in preparation, show some of the results of the 

 expedition. The Water Turkey Group and the rearrangement 

 of the Brown Pelican Group have been finished. In the 

 preparation of these exhibits several new features of installa- 

 tion have been introduced with gratifying results. Twenty- 

 nine birds have been mounted to show the different types of 

 bills and their adaptation to methods of feeding. 



The expedition in Mexico came to an end in May through 

 the untimely death of Mr. J. H. Batty. 



The list of accessions includes a collection of mammals 

 from Hainan, China, containing thirteen species new to science. 

 Again we are indebted to the New York Zoological Society 

 and to the Central Park Menagerie for many courtesies and 

 for the donation of several mammals and birds in the flesh. 



The total number of accessions for the year was 638 

 mammals and 915 birds. 



While the Curator has supervised the routine work of the 

 department, he has continued his scientific researches. His 

 duties as editor of the Bulletin are exacting, nevertheless he 

 has published two papers and has several others in preparation. 



Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology. — The total 

 collection of fossil vertebrates numbers between 17,000 and 

 18,000 catalogued specimens, all of which have been identified, 

 labeled and fully recorded, besides about a thousand specimens 

 not yet catalogued. 



Among the most striking specimens placed on exhibition 

 maybe mentioned the Columbian Mammoth; the Glyptodon, 

 a large mammal related to the armadillo, but with a solid shell 

 like a tortoise; the Tyrannosaurus, a huge carnivorous dino- 

 saur, almost as large as the Bro?itosaurus, and another extinct 

 reptile, the JVaosaurus, with a remarkable bony dorsal fin. 



The department has been indebted repeatedly to Mr. J. 

 Pierpont Morgan for many generous gifts, but his latest dona- 

 tion, namely,, the Warren Mastodon Collection, eclipses all 

 others. The principal specimen in this collection is that of 

 the Warren Mastodon skeleton. It is one of the largest in 



