.")8 BIRDS OF THE WORLD 



facture 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 the Hall ; while looms and the completed garments 

 are shown in the large central rectangle devoted to Congo ethnology. 

 The most beautiful of the last-mentioned products are the "pile cloths" 

 of the Bakuba, woven by the men and supplied with decorative patterns 

 by the women. Very fine wooden goblets and other carvings bear 

 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 northern section 

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

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

 doubtful to what extent the art may be considered native. 



The rehgious behefs of the natives are illustrated by numerous 

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

 Ceremonial masks are shown, which were worn by the native 

 medicine-men. 



[Return to Central PariUon]. 



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 

 the World known s]iecies are represented by tyj^ical examples of the 



]>rincii)al 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 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 Austra- 

 lian realms. These cases in conn(>ction with the accompanying maps give 

 opportunity for a comjiarative .study of the l)irds 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. 



