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THE PTARMIGAN IN WINTER 



One of a series of four small groups showing this bird's seasonal changes of color as brought 

 about by molting and feather growth. 



SOUTH CENTRAL WING 



Birds of the World 



Going north we enter the hall containing the general collection of 

 birds. In the first four main cases on the right the 13,000 

 th w Id known species are represented by typical examples of the 

 principal groups arranged according to what is believed 

 to be their natural relationships. The series begins with the Ostriches, 

 the ''lowest" birds (that is, those which seem to have changed least 

 from their reptihan ancestors) and goes up to those which show the high- 

 est type of development, the Singing Perching Birds such as our Thrushes 

 and Finches. The remaining cases on the right wall and all of those on 

 the left show the geographical distribution of the bird fauna of the world. 

 The specimens are grouped according to their great faunal regions, the 

 South American Temperate, American Tropical, North American 

 Temperate, Arctic Eurasian, Indo-Malay, African and Australian realms. 

 These cases in connection with the accompanying maps give opportunity 

 for a comparative study of the birds of the different parts of the world. 

 In each region, as in the Synoptic Collection, the birds are arranged in 

 their natural groups to the best of our present knowledge. 



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