50 EXTINCT BIRDS 



of a skin cloak is illustrated by one of the figures in the group to the left 

 of the entrance; bark cloths from Uganda are shown in the northeastern 



section of ilic Hall; while loom- and the completed garments arc shown ill 

 the large central rectangle devoted to Congo ethnology. The most beauti- 

 ful of the last-mentioned products are the "pile cloths" of the Baknba, 



woven by the men and supplied with decorative patterns by the women. Very 



fine wooden goblets and other carvings hear witness to the high artistic 



sense of the African natives, who also excel other primitive races in their 



love of music, which is shown by the variety of their musical instruments. 



A unique art is illustrated in the Benin case in the northwestern section 

 of the Hall, where the visitor will see bronze and brass castings made by a 

 process similar to that used in Europe in the Renaissance period. It i- 

 doubtful to what extent the art may lie considered native. 



The religious beliefs of the natives are illustrated by numerous fetiches 

 and charms, believed to give security in battle or to avert evils. Cere- 

 monial masks are shown, which were worn by the native medicinemen. 



[Return to Central Pavilion.] 



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 known 



w . , 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 reptilian 

 ancestors) and goes up to those which show the highest type of develop- 

 ment, the Singing Perching Birds such as our Thrushes and Finches. The 

 remaining eases 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 Eura- 

 sian, Indo-Malay, African and Australian realms. These cases in connec- 

 tion 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. 



Down the middle of the hall near the entrance are several cases con- 

 taining birds which have become extinct or nearlv so. The 

 Extinct Birds T , , _ _ . . , 



Labrador Duck, once a common visitor to our Long Island 



shores, became extinct for no known reason. The Great Auk and the 



