"Ward’s natural science bulletin. 
io 
SKULLS — Continued. 
Aquila chrysaetus, 
Bubo maximus, 
Upupa epops, 
Menura superba, 
Merida migratoria , 
Conus americ'anus, . 
Buceros bicornis, 
Ara macao, 
Ararauna ararauna, 
Conurus carolinensis, 
C hroicocephalus Philadelphia, 
Psittacus erythracus , 
Cacatua molluccensis, 
Campephilus pileatus, 
Ciconia alba, 
Cygnus olor, 
TJria troile, 
Eulmarus giganteus, 
Diomedea exulans, 
‘ ‘ fuliginosa, 
Sterorarius parasiticus, 
Cavialus gangeticus, 
Tomistoma schlegeli, 
Crocodilus porosus, 
“ ■ bombifrons, 
“ palustris. 
Siren lacertina, 
Menobranchus lateralis, 
Amphiuma means, 
A lligator mississippin en sis 
Aspidonectes ferox, 
Macrochelys lacertina, 
Chelonia mydas, 
Eretmochelys imbricata, 
Thalassochelys caouna. 
Menopoma allegha.nensis, 
Bufo americana, 
Bana catasbiana. 
Squalus sp. Ceratodus fosteri. 
Polyodon folium. 
THEY ARE COMING. 
Mr. Selous, the celebrated African hunter, un- 
der date of January 15, 1886, writes us from the 
Trans Yaal on the eve of his departure for the 
interior that he has shipped us skins of Sable and 
Tessebe Antelope, head skins of Sable and Roan 
Antelope, Bland and Waterbuck besides skeletons 
of Zebra and Hyaena ( Crocuta ). 
These will probably be along in a few weeks, 
and will doubtless quickly find a place in some of 
our larger museums. 
We are in receipt of a letter offering us the fol- 
lowing Bornean animals, Orangs, Gibbons, Pro- 
boscis Monkeys, Bear, Tapir, Rhinoceros, Buf- 
falo; many species of Deer, Elephant, Galleopitli- 
ecus, Pittas, Argus and Fire-backed Pheasants, 
Pythons, etc., etc. Such a tempting array of 
typical forms will probably remain with us but a 
very short time before finding purchasers. 
Our South African collector has lately ob- 
tained for us the following, specimens, some of 
which we have already received: 
Dog-faced Baboon Cynocephalus porcarius ; Cy- 
nictis; Ratel, Mellivora ratel; AardWolf , Proteles 
lalandii ; Native Dog, Lycaon pictus, skin and 
skeleton; Wild Hogs, Potamochcerus africanus; 
Cape Buffalo, Bubcdus caffer ; Hyrax, Hyrax cap- 
ensis; Tree Hyrax, Dendrohyrax arboreus; Spring 
Haas, Pedetes caffer ; Porcupine, Eystrix cristata; 
Aard Yark, Orycteropus capensis, skin and skele- 
ton; Secretary Bird, Serpentarius reptilivorus ; 
Ostrich, male, female and young, in skins and 
skeletons ; Bustards, Eagles and many other 
birds, turtles, etc. Some of these things have not 
yet been determined, while still others not yet re- 
ceived, cannot be noticed at present. 
DUGONGS. 
We have lately received from one of^our Aus- 
trialian collectors a very valuable addition to our 
stock. This shipment included among many re- 
ptiles and fishes, several dugongs (. Halicore austral- 
is). Some of these are skeletons, others skins (all of 
adult animals), and one f oetus. W e also have, from 
this lot, several alcoholic preparations such as 
heart, eye, and penis of dugong; also head skins, 
skulls, parts of skeletons, a complete set of cer- 
vical vertebrae and vertebrae from lumbar and 
caudal regions. 
The dugong is a difficult animal to procure and 
we regard it as a proof of our unusual facilities 
for obtaining specimens that we have been able to 
secure so many of these important and rare ani- 
mals. Two of them, stuffed specimens, have al- 
ready been spoken for. 
We give above a drawing taken from one (hat 
has just been finished for the Museum of Com- 
parative Zoology at Cambridge. 
The skin was in brine and the head entire, as, 
in fact, was the case with them all. It will be 
noticed that the shape of the head differs materi- 
ally from the stereotyped illustration of the books. 
We submit it as an improvement. 
Foetus, $60; heart, $5; eye, $3; penis, $3; skel- 
eton, $165; stuffed, $200. 
WITHOUT BIRDS. 
Think of your woods and orchards without birds 1 
Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams 
As in an idiot’s brain remembered words 
Hang empty ’mid the cobwebs of his dreams ! 
Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds 
Make up for the lost music, when your teams 
Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more 
The feathered gleaners follow to your door ? 
What I would you rather see the incessant stir 
Of insects in the windrows of the hay, 
And hear the locust and the grasshopper 
Their melancholy hurdy-gurdies play ? 
Is this more pleasant to you than the whir 
Of meadow-lark, and her sweet roundelay, 
Or twitter of little field-fares, as you take 
Your nooning - in the shade of bush and brake ? 
You call them thieves and pillagers ; but know 
They are the winged wardens of your farms, 
Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe, 
And from your harvest keep a hundred harms : 
Even the blackest of them all, the crow, 
Renders good service as your man-at-arms, 
Crushing the beetle in his coat-of-mail. 
And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 
Think, every morning when the sun peeps through 
The dim, leaf -latticed windows of the grove, 
How jubilant the happy birds renew 
Their old melodious madrigals of love ! 
And when you think of this, remember, too, 
’Tis alwavs morning somewhere, and above 
The awakening continents, from shore to shore, 
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 
Longfellow. 
T NFORMATION WANTED, upon the needless des- 
JL traction of birds, with facts and figures, by the 
Committee on Protection of Birds, of the Am. Ornith- 
ologists’ Union. Address Care of AM. MUSEUM 
NAT. HIST., New York. 
JUMBO. 
The world wide interest taken in Jumbo of 
late years, was not alone by the curiosity seeker; 
but largely by scientific men. Jumbo exemplified 
the maximum size of known, existing, terrestrial 
animal life. He was a young animal, growing 
rapidly, and scientific people in Europe and 
America were interested to know how large he 
would become under good treatment. Already 
he had outstripped the average mastodon and 
was encroaching upon the gigantic size so far 
reserved alone for the long extinct mammoth. 
He was from a race of giants among animals, 
for the African is the largest species of ele- 
phant, and had exceeded in stature any of his 
race of which we know. African elephants are 
rarely seen in captivity and but comparatively 
few are in museums. We believe Jumbo to be 
the only nearly adult of his race upon this conti- 
nent, and this alone invests him with special 
interest. 
He was captured when very young on the 
banks of the Settite River, in Abyssinia in 1861. 
He was for about three years in the Jardin des 
Plantes, in Paris, and front there transferred to the 
Royal Zoological Gardens of London. All know 
of Mr. Barnum’s purchase of the animal and his 
transfering to America where he arrived in April 
1882. He was then exhibited with the Barnum 
& London Combined Shows, in various parts of 
the country until his lamented demise in St. 
Thomas, Canada, Sept. 15, 1885. It will be seen 
that at the time of his death he was about 25 
years old, for at the time of his capture he was 
only three feet and a half high indicating an 
elephant under two years of age. 
That he should have grown larger than the ma- 
jority of his kind is not surprising considering 
the excellent care that he had, much better than 
falls to the lot of a wild elephant. 
On the afternoon of the 16th of Sept, a tele- 
gram was received announcing the death . of 
Jumbo; too late in the day to allow of taking 
other than a late night train to the scene of the 
disaster. 
* Note.— We wish to offer a word of explanation, in 
regard to the cuts accompanying this article. The 
building in which Jumbo was mounted was not large 
enough to admit of taking a satisfactory photograph, 
from which to make the drawing. We notice a fault 
in the line of the back and a certain stiffness not ap- 
parent in the stuffed specimen. These cuts are too 
good to omit entirely but not as perfect as we would 
wish. 
