40 
WEST WING. 
gallery, and which form but a small proportion of the different 
kinds of birds known to inhabit the globe, only a few of the most 
striking can be mentioned here. The various types of the birds 
of prey are very fully represented : from the Condor or Great 
Vulture of the Andes, the large Sea-eagle of Behring Straits, and 
the Great Eagle Owl of Europe, all of which are placed in separate 
cases, to the Dwarf Ealcon in case 13, which is not much larger 
than a sparrow, and preys upon insects. Among the large group of 
perching birds, attention is drawn to the case of birds of Paradise 
opposite to wall-cases 18 and 19. At the end of the same side 
of the gallery are placed skeletons of the Dodo and Solitaire, 
gigantic pigeons with wings too small for flight, once inhabitants 
of the islands of Mauritius and Eodriguez, but now extinct. 
The cases on the right-hand side of the gallery are occupied by 
birds allied to the common Eowl, and by the wading and swim- 
ming birds ; among them is a fine series of Pheasants and other 
game birds, the Great Bustard, once an inhabitant of our 
island, a pair of Elamingoes with their nest, the Great 
Auk from the Northern Seas, now extinct, and finally the large 
Emperor Penguin from the Antarctic Ocean, the only known 
specimens of which were obtained during the British Antarctic 
expedition of 1839-43. 
In the " Pavilion," or room at the further end of the gallery 
are placed the specimens of the peculiar division of birds called 
Batitce, from the flat or raft-like character of the breast-bone, 
and which, owing to the rudimentary character of their wings, 
have not the power of raising themselves off the ground in flight. 
They include the largest existing birds, the Ostriches, Emus and 
Cassowaries, as well as the small Kiwi or Apteryx of New 
Zealand. 
In the middle of the gallery and in the spaces between the wall- 
cases are placed various isolated groups of particular interest, 
among which the visitor will doubtless be attracted by those 
showing the nesting habits of our best-known British birds. The 
great value of these groups consists in their absolute truthfulness. 
The surroundings are not selected by chance or imagination, 
but in every case are carefully-executed reproductions of those 
that were present round the individual nest. When it has been 
possible, the actual rocks, trees or grass, have been preserved, 
