15 



The remounting of the Bats has been finished, and about fifty 

 small Mammals, formerly stored in the curator's room, have been 

 remounted and placed on exhibition. The Study Collection of 

 North American Mammals has steadily increased, but to a less ex- 

 tent than was hoped. 



Birds. — The additions comprise several small collections of con- 

 siderable importance, including two from South America, one from 

 the islands of Behrings Sea, and a small collection from Lower 

 California. The accessions comprise about 150 mounted birds 

 (mostly North American), 1,370 skins, and a small number of nests 

 and eggs. The most important of these additions is a collection 

 of about 400 Bolivian birds, collected by Dr. H. H. Rusby, which 

 not only added many species to the collection, but several new to 

 science. The thanks of the Museum are due to Mrs. F. M. Bum- 

 stead for a collection of 150 mounted birds, mainly from Massa- 

 chusetts and Florida. About 100 mounted birds, previously stored, 

 have been put on new stands and placed on exhibition. A second 

 series of bird groups, 1 8 in number, has been placed in the Bird 

 Hall, making 47 in all, for which the Museum is indebted to the 

 liberality of Mrs. R. L. Stuart. 



Little has been done during the past year for the increase of the 

 Study Collection of North American Birds, which still remains in a 

 very unsatisfactory and inefficient state. 



Excellent progress has been made in getting the collection into 

 proper order, the reception of a large number of insect-proof stor- 

 age cabinets providing the means for placing the entire collection 

 of skins in a condition of perfect safety and accessibility. The 

 mounted collection has been almost entirely re-arranged, the Old 

 World birds having been placed in a continuous systematic series. 

 A new " Visitors' Guide to the Collection of Birds " has also been 

 prepared and issued, consisting of sixty-eight pages of text and 

 eighteen illustrations. 



A great advance has been made in cataloguing and labeling the 

 collection, all of the North American mounted birds being now 

 provided with exhibition labels, while the South American mounted 

 birds have been catalogued and a part of them labeled. Also up- 

 ward of 10,000 specimens in the Study Collection have been cata- 

 logued and labeled. Grateful acknowledgments are due Mr. 

 Charles L. Brownell and Mr. E. G. Lewis, both of this city, for 

 much assistance gratuitously rendered, Mr. Lewis having devoted 

 two months consecutively to the work of this department. Mr. 

 D. G. Elliot has also rendered invaluable aid in cataloguing the 

 Elliot Collection of Hummingbirds, in addition to which he has 

 revised several families of the Old World birds, which he has in 

 former years made the subject of special study. 



The use of our material by specialists is steadily increasing, sev- 

 eral of whom have visited the Museum especially for this purpose. 



