Each group in the scries, beginning with Bird Rock in the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, in 1898, is the result of a special .Museum expedition in 

 charge of the ( lurator of ( )rnithology, usually accompanied by a prepara- 

 tor, and one of the artists whose names appear in connection with the 

 backgrounds they have painted. 



After arriving, before securing specimens, the birds were first studied 

 and photographed at short range from an especially constructed 

 umbrella-blind. This was sometimes placed in the very heart of the bird 

 community, as, for instance, with the Flamingoes and Pelicans: or even 

 in the tree-tops as with the Egrets. At the same time the artist made 

 studies on which to base the final background, as well as detailed color 

 sketches of leaf and blossom, while the preparator collected the needed 

 accessories, making casts or preserving vegetation in various solutions 

 as occasion required. When the field-work was concluded, the crates 

 of branches, carefully packed boxes of foliage, nests, birds and photo- 

 graphic plates, sacks of earth and other material, according to the nature 

 of the subject , were shipped to the Museum, subsequently to be prepared 

 in the laboratories. 



The vegetation, by Mr. J. 1). Figgins, Mr. A. E. Butler and other 



members of the Department of Preparation, has been reproduced in wax, 

 cii her from plaster molds of the original, or by careful duplication of the 

 original itself. The color has been applied with an air-brush or atomizer. 

 by which the most delicate tints and textures are faithfully rendered. 



Each group has demanded its own special treatment, and, in the 

 construction of the series, the many novel problems encountered have 

 resulted in the development of original methods. This is particularly 

 true of the manner of installation and illumination of the groups at the 

 .-ides of the hall. Here, it will be observed, the background is curved, 

 with the front opening so reduced in size that at the proper distance, or 

 "correct viewpoint," neither the ends nor the to)) of the group can be 

 seen. By thus leaving the actual limits of the group to the imagination, 

 the illusion of space and distance is greatly heightened. 



The groups are illuminated from above by diffused light; electric 

 light being employed when daylight fails, but, in either case, the rays 

 strike the group from the same diffusing surface. 



The Museum owes this series of Bird Groups primarily to the 

 generosity of a number of its members, without whose contributions 

 the collection and preparation of the material would not have been 

 undertaken. 



For this valuable cooperation the Museum is indebted chiefly to 

 Mr. John L. Cadwalader and to Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, Mrs. Philip 



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