HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 



Bailey 



Collection of 

 Nests and 

 Eggs, $2,000. 



H. H. Smith 

 Collections. 



Lawrence 



Collection, 



$9,000. 



Rusby 

 Collection. 



Sennett 



Collection, 



$4,500. 



Price 

 Collection. 



provided by Mr. Jesup personally, and for the second, which amounted 

 to over $7,000, by Mr. Robert Colgate. 



The H. B. Bailey Collection of nests and eggs, considered at that 

 time one of the finest in the country, was purchased in 1885; $1,500 

 of this was given by Mrs. Robert L. Stuart. 



A collection of 4,000 bird skins, several hundred eggs, and several 

 hundred sterna, collected by Mr. Herbert H. Smith in Brazil, was 

 purchased from him in 1887. On an expedition to South America in 

 1898-99 Mr. Smith was authorized to collect mammals for the Museum 

 to the value of about $3,000. In 1904-5, an additional 656 speci- 

 mens of mammals, together with 714 birds, eggs, and nests, collected 

 by Mr. Smith in Colombia, were purchased. 



The Lawrence Collection of American Birds was purchased in 1887 

 for $9,000 and added to the collections about 12,000 specimens, mostly 

 from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies, 

 containing 4,000 species and 300 original types. They were the result 

 of the life work of the ornithologist, Mr. George N. Lawrence. 



A collection of 400 Bolivian birds, containing several new to science, 

 and collected by Dr. H. H. Rusby, was purchased in 1888. 



With the acquisition of the George B. Sennett Collection of birds in 

 1903, the study collection was increased to over 80,000 specimens. 

 This collection contained about 8,000 birds, several hundred nests, 

 and several thousand eggs, largely from Mexico and Texas. 



The Price Collection of birds contained 3,918 specimens from Cali- 

 fornia and Mexico, and was purchased in 1904. 



An extensive series of Philippine birds, containing 1,000 specimens, 

 was purchased in 1905. 



In 1906 the department acquired 79 specimens of mammals from 

 China, most of which had been heretofore unrepresented. In 1907 

 another collection from China, containing 55 specimens, was purchased. 



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