MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. / 



taxidermic work, frequently preserves valuable material seemingly 

 beyond repair; this, however, delays the continuous work requisite 

 for the completion of the larger mounts undertaken each year. 

 His notable work this year includes mounts of gigantic Land Tor- 

 toises from Aldabra and the Galapagos, an Alligator Snapper and 

 a number of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Mr. 

 Nelson also ably assisted Dr. Allen in developing the skeleton of a 

 Mesohippus and repaired and mounted for exhibition many 

 skeletons. He has made many excellent photographs to illustrate 

 the publications of the Museum. 



Mr. A. B. Fuller's time has been wholly employed upon the 

 study and exhibition collections of birds and mammals. 



Col. John E. Thayer, to whose previous generosity the Museum 

 is indebted for many holographic letters and original drawings of 

 Alexander Wilson and J. J. Audubon, has given additional Wilson 

 drawings and also the gun that belonged to Wilson. This gun, 

 a single-barrelled flintlock, changed to percussion, was subse- 

 quently the property of John Cassin, W. P. Turnbull, W. P. 

 Hazard, and J. M. Wade. Free from the danger of fortuitous 

 ownership, this precious relic, still in an excellent state of pre- 

 servation, is at last properly housed in the Museum. With the 

 gun Colonel Thayer gave the letters relating its history. Colonel 

 Thayer has also given an interesting series of mammal skins from 

 southeastern California, and the original note-books kept by 

 Joseph Dixon in 1913-191-4, when collecting birds and mammals 

 for him in the Arctic. 



Mr. William Brewster has transferred from his private collec- 

 tion a number of North American birds of the greatest rarity. 

 His gift includes specimens of the California Condor, Heath Hen, 

 and two Labrador Ducks, one a young male and the second an 

 adult female. Long extinct, the Labrador Duck is probably the 

 most valuable of all North American birds; there are more Great 

 Auks than Labrador Ducks known; the species was previously 

 unrepresented in the Museum. 



Mr. Edward Doubleday Harris has given several boxes of his 

 fine collection of Cicindelidae (Tiger-beetles). For size, condi- 

 tion of the specimens, neatness and accuracy of the labeling, and 

 for the careful determination of the species, the Harris Collection 

 is not surpassed by any in America. The Museum is deeply 

 indebted to Mr. Harris for the gift of his most valuable collection. 



For the valuable Moreno collection of skeletal remains of Ground 

 Sloths from the Pleistocene of Cuba, the Museum is indebted to the 



