O ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



species or subspecies of birds, mostly collected by C. H. Townsend 

 in Polynesia. Mr. Townsend was naturalist during a part of the 

 time, August, 1899 to March, 1900, that the Albatross was 

 engaged in exploring the Tropical Pacific under the direction of 

 Mr. Agassiz. Other accessions include a small series of fossil 

 vertebrates from the Niobrara Cretaceous of Kansas; this series 

 includes the entire wing of a Pterodactyl, sixty-one inches in length 

 with the carpals in place, a fine exhibition specimen; also a rare 

 species of Saurocephalus with the skull in exceptional condition 

 for study; a collection of Cynipidae (84 types) purchased of Mr. 

 William Beutenmuller. 



From the American Museum of Natural History the Museum 

 has received in exchange a fine series of reptiles collected during 

 their Congo expedition and a series of 116 species or subspecies, 

 over 300 specimens, of Colombian birds. 



Dr. G. M. Allen, employed for three days weekly, spent a large 

 part of the time on the collection of fossil mammals, material 

 chiefly from the tertiaries of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, 

 gathered more than thirty years ago and in large part unstudied. 

 More than 2,000 specimens of this material have been worked out 

 from the matrix, cleaned, repaired, catalogued, and as far as 

 possible, identified. A few ungulate groups are still unstudied. 

 Of recent mammals some desirable species, new to the collection, 

 have been given by Dr. Thomas Barbour, and received in exchange 

 with the U. S. Biological Survey. The collection of skins of the 

 smaller mammals is in most excellent condition, a result largely 

 due to the skill and industry of Mr. A. B. Fuller. Dr. Allen's 

 time for research has been devoted to a study of the skeletal 

 remains of aboriginal dogs of America. 



The status of a museum collection is best recognized, when on 

 the completion of a taxonomic study of the larger part of it, a 

 catalogue briefly noting the species, number of specimens, and 

 localities, is brought together and printed. Such a catalogue of the 

 Museum's Amphibia caudata (salamanders and newts) prepared 

 by Mr. E. R. Dunn and published as Bull. M. C. Z., December, 

 1918, 62, p. 443-472, records eighty-six species or subspecies, a 

 number since increased to 104, somewhat more than two thirds of 

 the recognized forms. 



