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THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM
JOURNAL
VOLUME IV, 1904
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
= /
1904
Committee of Publication
Aa. by). Chi
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY, Editor
FRANK M. CHAPMAN ]
LOUIS P. GRATACAP +t Advisory Board
WILLIAM K. GREGORY
3
The American Museum of Natural History
77th STREET AND CENTRAL Park WEsT, NEw YorK
l
BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR I904
MORRIS K. JESUP WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER
ADRIAN ISELIN GEORGE G. HAVEN
J. PIERPONT MORGAN H. O. HAVEMEYER
JOSEPH H. CHOATE A. D. JUILLIARD
J. HAMPDEN ROBB FREDERICK E. HYDE
CHARLES LANIER PERCY R. PYNE
D. O. MILLS HENRY F. OSBORN
ALBERT S. BICKMORE GEORGE §. BOWDOIN
ARCHIBALD ROGERS JAMES H. HYDE
WILLIAM C. WHITNEY * ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES
GUSTAV E. KISSEL CORNELIUS C. CUYLER
ANSON W. HARD CLEVELAND H. DODGE
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES FOR Igo4
PRESIDENT
MORRIS K. JESUP
FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT
J. PIERPONT MORGAN HENRY F. OSBORN
TREASURER
CHARLES LANIER
DIRECTOR
HERMON C. BUMPUS
SECRETARY AND ASSISTANT TREASURER
JOHN H. WINSER
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
J. HAMPDEN ROBB, Chairman
MORRIS K. JESUP PERCY R. PYNE
J. PIERPONT MORGAN H. O. HAVEMEYER
HENRY F. OSBORN ANSON W. HARD
CHARLES LANIER FREDERICK?#E.'\ HYDE
AUDITING COMMITTEE!
ANSON W. HARD GUSTAV E. KISSEL
GEORGE G. HAVEN
The President, ex-officio
FINANCE COMMITTEE
J. PIERPONT MORGAN D. O. MILLS
CHARLES LANIER A. D. JUILLIARD
The President, ex-officio
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
D. O. MILLS WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER
CLEVELAND H. DODGE
The President, ex-officto
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
PBRGY R= PYINE ARCHIBALD ROGERS
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES
The President, ex-officio
* Deceased.
ill
Scientific Staff
Director
HERMON C. Bumpus, Ph.D.
Department of Public Instruction
Prof. ALBERT S. BrcKMorRE, Curator
Department of Geology and Invertebrate Palzontology
Prof. R. P. WHITFIELD, Curator
EpmMuNp Oris Hovey, Ph.D., Associate Curator
Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology
leroy, Ifa JANG JNiiviaany, (Creuitehuore
Frank M. CHAPMAN, Associate Curator
Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Prof. HENRY FAIRFIELD OsBorN, Curator
W.. D. Matruew, Ph.D., Associate Curator
O. P. Hay, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Chelonia
Prof. BAsHrorD Dean, Honorary Curator of Fishes
Department of Ethnology
Prof. Franz’ Boas, Curator
Prof. LiviNGstoN FARRAND, Assistant Curator
CLARK WIssLER, Ph.D., Assistant
Department of Archaeology
Prof. M. H. SAvILue, Curator of Mexican-Central American Archeology
Haran I, Smiru. Assistant Curator
GerorceE H. Pepper, Assistant in Archeology of the Southwest
Department of Entomology
WittiAM BruTENMULLER, Curator
Departments of Mineralogy and Conchology
L. P. Gratacap, A.M., Curator
GeorGE F. Kunz, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems
Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy
Prof. Witt1AM Morton WHEELER, Curator
GrorGcE H. SHERwoop, A.M., Assistant Curator
Prof. J. E. DuERpEN, Honorary Curator of Ccoelenterates
Department of Physiology
Prof. RautpH W. Tower, Curator
Department of Preparation and Installation
B. E. DAHLGREN, D.M.D., Curator
Department of Books and Publications
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, Curator
Department of Maps and Charts
A. Woopwarp, Ph.D., Curator
iv
l
CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.
TITLE-PAGE ‘ :
COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION
TRUSTEES, OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
SCIENTIFIC STAFF
CONTENTS :
List oF ILLUSTRATIONS
NOY 2, JANUARY. To0x
FRONTISPIECE
EDITORIAL NOTE ; : : : : 3 :
THe BEHAVIOR OF THE MINERALS AND Guts OF THE MORGAN
COLLECTIONS TOWARD RADIUM AND OTHER SOURCES OF
LIGHT
An Extinct Cave Fauna in ARKANSAS. By W. D. MatTTHeEw.
THE LonG-TAILED JAPANESE Fowts (Illustrated)
THE DrauGutT Horse IN Action (Illustrated)
DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY: EXPEDITION OF 1903
(Illustrated) ; ; :
THE ARCHAZOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO THE COLUMBIA V cies
DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALZONTOLOGY: FIELD Ex-
PLORATIONS IN 1903 E
SOME EXTRAORDINARY ANTS Gilinnctrated)
THe Mexican Cotton-BoL_t WEEVIL
CLIMATIC VARIATION IN COLOR AND SIZE OF Base SPARROWS
(Illustrated). By F. M. CHapMan
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHZOLOGY: EXPLORATIONS IN THE SOUTH-
WEST : ; :
THe EXHIBIT OF CHUKCHEE Ovens (liittsteated)
THe GIANT SPIDER Crap (Illustrated)
EocENE Fossit MAMMALS OF SOUTH AMERICA
News Notes
LECTURES
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES ; :
A GENERAL GUIDE TO THE ina nin Mescen OF Pere
momar DAW
HIsTORY. . : Supplement
CONTENTS
NOQiv2e, APRIL, 1904.
FRONTISPIECE . : Pe!
EpiToriaL Note aS
THE House-LireE OF THE Chee OF Sanaa ilistenteeh 5
THE STORER COLLECTION OF SHELLS ‘ ee
ORBICULAR GRANITE FROM MICHIGAN ; : a
THE COLLECTION oF FossiL FIsHES : ee) 0)
MopEL OF THE Four-Torp Horse . ; : . | Ao
News Notes . 4 ; ; ; ; » ae
LECTURES ; : ; : : : 5
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. : ; 47
Birps, Nests anp Eces. By F. M. CHapman Supplemene
NO: 3; JULY, -1oox.
FRONTISPIECE . : ; . “5S
FUNERAL Urns From Omen (likasirated), By MARSHALL
H. SAVILLE : : ms
THE GIANT SPIDER CRAB FROM THE [esate Sr AS . Ge
Museum NotEs on
PRIMITIVE ART Supplement
NO. 4, OCTOBER, 1904.
FRONTISPIECE . ; es
New Groups or GAME paee (uiersreane By F. M. CuHap-
MAN . : j : : , ’ ae
SOCIAL PARASITISM AMONG ANTs. By WiLit1aAmM Morton
WHEELER : : . 74
A CoLLEcTING TRIP TO eae AND THE B AHAMAS (iiuereances 75
THE LIBRARY . : , : ; | ie
THE CIRCULATING LOAN Conmecmons oF NATURAL History
SPECIMENS ! , . Se
THE STUDY COLLECTION OF BIRDS . . : . Soa
Museum Notes ; | 382
LECTURES : : ; ; . SS
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. ; . 18s
THE INSEcT-GALLS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK Com (Illus-
trated). By Witt1am BEUTENMULLER : . 89
INDEX : : =) ee
l
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE JOURNAL.
Lonc-TAILED JAPANESE FowLs
DrauGHT HorsE — SIDE VIEW )
Draucut Horse — VIEW FROM ABOVE AND BEHIND
New NortH CAROLINA BEETLES
A GYNANDROMORPHOUS ANT
DISTRIBUTION OF SONG SPARROWS
CHUKCHEE Man, SHOWING WINTER CLOTHING
GIANT SPIDER CRAB FROM JAPAN ;
Tue HoME oF A CHUKCHEE FAMILY, EASTERN SIBERIA
FUNERAL Urns Founp IN A Mounp, VALLEY OF Oaxaca
ENTRANCE OF A TOMB AT CUILAPA
FUNERAL URNs IN A MounpD AT CUILAPA
FUNERAL URNS IN THE FACADE OF TOMB 9, XOXO :
FUNERAL URNS IN A NICHE IN THE FACADE OF A TOMB AT
CUILAPA , e
FUNERAL URNS FROM XOXO :
FuNERAL Urns Founp BAck oF Rous 9, oxo y :
TERRA-COTTA FUNERAL URN FouND IN FRONT OF A TOMB AT
CUILAPA ‘ A é
CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE
CALIFORNIA VALLEY PARTRIDGE d ; ; ; 3
STAR-FisH —A Hatr-Hour’s CoLt_tecTinc aT ANDROS ISLAND,
BAHAMAS . :
CoRALS AND SEA-FANS aa FouR S Conrbenucé on ANDROS
REEF, BAHAMAS : :
SPINY Rose GALL (RHODITES BICOLOR HARR.)
RosE Root GALL (RHODITES RADICUM OSTEN SACKEN)
GLOBULAR ROSE GALL (RHODITES GLOBULUS BEUTEN.)
Lonc Rose GALL (RHODITES DICHLOCERUS Harr.)
Knotty Rose GALL (RHODITES VERNA OSTEN SACKEN)
Mossy Rose GALL (RHODITES ROSE LINN.) :
Meaty Rose GAL (RHODITES IGNOTA OSTEN SACKEN)
Rose LenTiLt Galt (RHODITES LENTICULARIS BASS.)
BaAssETT’s BLACKBERRY GALL (DIASTROPHUS BASSETTII BEU-
TEN.)
ILLUSTRATIONS
BLACKBERRY SEED GALL (DIASTROPHUS CUSCUTZFORMIS
OsTEN SACKEN) ‘ : ‘ ; : . os
BLACKBERRY Knot GALL orisnRa as S NEBULOSUS Osiee
SACKEN) . : : : ; ; : : : oa
RASPBERRY Root GALL (DIASTROPHUS RADICUM Bass.) . «405
CINQUEFOIL AXIL GALL (DIASTROPHUS POTENTILL# Bass.) . 96
Oak oR May AppLeE (A MPHIBOLIPS CONFLUENTUS Harr.) » 356
Empty Oak APPLE (AMPHIBOLIPS INANIS OSTEN SACKEN) em
SCRUB OAK GALL (AMPHIBOLIPS ILICIFOLIE BASS.) . : aoe
Oak SPINDLE GALL (A MPHIBOLIPS (ECLEBS OSTEN SACKEN) . 98
AcorN Pium Gatti (AMPHIBOLIPS PRUNUS WALSH) : » 198
HornNED Knot Oak Gatti (ANDRICUS CONIGERUS OSTEN
SACKEN) . ; : : : ; : : ° os
Oak Knot GaLt (ANDRICUS PUNCTATUS Bass.) : * ee
Oak SEED GALL (ANDRICUS SEMINATOR Harr.) : . “00
Oak Wart GALL (ANDRICUS FUTILIS OSTEN SACKEN) . 399
Oak NippLe GALL (ANDRICUS PAPILLATUS OSTEN SACKEN) . 100
SCRUB Oak CLuB GALL (ANDRICUS SimiLis Bass.) . ; . ES
WHITE Oak CLuB GALL (ANDRICUS CLAVULA Bass.) ; ) tes
SUCCULENT Oak GALL (ANDRICUS PALUSTRIS OSTEN SACKEN). I01
SMALL Oak APPLE (ANDRICUS SINGULARIS BASs.) . : . OH
Oak PETIOLE GALL (ANDRICUS PETIOLICOLA BASS.) . >» Toe
Oak Woot Gatti (AnDRICUS LANA FITCH) : : : Sieg
Oak CapsuLE GALL (ANDRICUS CAPSULUS BASS.) . 3 TOR
Oak Miprisp GALL (ANDRICUS PIGER BAss.) . , 26g
SPINY Oak GALL (CYNIPS PRINOIDES BEUTEN.) ‘ . eg
Pine-ConE Oak GALL (CYNIPS STROBILANA OSTEN SACKEN) . 104
Oak PEA GaLt (Cynips PisuM FITCH) . : : i) tem
Oak HEDGEHOG GALL (ACRASPIS ERINACEI WALSH) : . Tom
Oak Fic Gay (BioRHIzZA FORTICORNIS WALSH) | 805
Oak BULLET GALL (HOLCASPIS GLOBULUS FITCH) . . es
PoINTED BULLET GALL (HOLCASPIS DURICARIA BASS.) . (ES
POLISHED OAK GALL (DRYOPHANTA POLITA BASS.) : ee
Oak FLOWER-STEM GALL (NEUROTERUS PALLIDUS BASS.) . ox
Oak Potato GALL (NEUROTERUS BATATUS FITCH) ; iy «or
Noxious Oak GALL (NEUROTERUS NOXIOSUS BASS.) ey
Oak FLAKE GALL (NEUROTERUS FLOCCOSUS BASS.) 1 sree
Oak Button GALL (NEUROTERUS UMBILICATUS BASS.) . . _ 168
HUCKLEBERRY GALL (SOLENOZOPHERIA VACCINII ASHM.) . 26s
Lettuce Tumor GALL (AULAX TUMIDUS Bass.) . 7 meg
vill
ILLUSTRATIONS
Witiow AppLe GaLt (NEMATUS POMUM WatsH)
Wititow Ecc Gai (Euura ovuM WALSH)
ALDER Bup GALL (CECIDOMYIA SERRULAT# OSTEN SACKEN)
Basswoop Wart GALL (CECIDOMYIA VERRUCICOLA OSTEN
SACKEN) 4 : ; ; : 3 :
TuLip-TREE Miprisp GALL (Guano MYIA TULIPIFERA Daren
SACKEN) F 4 ; : : , ; ;
TuLip-TREE Spot GALL (CECIDOMYIA LIRIODENDRI OSTEN
SACKEN) : ; : :
Witp CHERRY Bubp GALL (enorme MYIA SEROTIN = Gme
SACKEN) : ; ; ;
AsH Mipris GALL (CECIDOMYIA PELLEX Cane SACKEN)
Honey-Locust Pop GALL (CECIDOMYIA GLEDITSCHIL£ OSTEN
SACKEN) : ; : : ‘ : :
Hickory- ONION GALL (CECIDOMYIA HOLOTRICHA OSTEN
SACKEN) : : : : : : :
Hickory SEED GALL (CECIDOMYIA CARY COLA OSTEN
SACKEN)
Hickory TuBE GALL (CECIDOMYIA TUBICOLA Oona Saeeee) :
Hickory CoNE GALL (CECIDOMYIA SANGUINOLENTA OSTEN
SACKEN) : : : : : : : : :
Hickory PracH GALL (CECIDOMYIA PERSICOIDES OSTEN
SACKEN) : : : ; :
PINE-CONE WILLOW GALL (Gee IDOMYIA STROBILOIDES Gries
SACKEN)
WILLow CLUB GALL (Geena IA RIGID SOer en SACKEN)
WILLoOw Potato GALL (CECIDOMYIA BATATAS OSTEN SACKEN)
Docwoop CLuB GALL (CECIDOMYIA CLAVULA BEUTEN.)
ToucH-ME-Not GALL (CECIDOMYIA IMPATIENS OSTEN SACKEN)
Oak PILL GALL (CECIDOMYIA PILULE WALSH)
Oak SPANGLES (CECIDOMYIA POCULUM OSTEN SACKEN)
Oak Foitp GALL (CECIDOMYIA NIVEIPILA OSTEN SACKEN)
GOLDENROD BuNCH GALL (CECIDOMYIA SOLIDAGINIS LOEW)
GRAPE-VINE TuBE GALL (CECIDOMYIA VITICOLA OSTEN
SACKEN) : : 4 ; : 3
GRAPE-VINE APPLE GALL (openers IA VITIS-POMUM roe
AND RILEY) : : ;
GRAPE-VINE ToMATO GALL (LASIOPTERA VITIS stan Sucka)
Mapve Spot GALL (SCIARA OCELLATA OSTEN SACKEN)
GOLDENROD GALL (TRYPETA POLITA LOEW)
1X
EEE
JE E 1B
II2
EE2
L1I2
113
113
II4
II4
IT4
EDS
Ens
II5
116
116
I16
EY
117
118
118
118
I19Q
11g
ILLUSTRATIONS
GoLDENROD Batt GALu (TRYPETA SOLIDAGINIS Fi1TCH)
HaAcCKBERRY PETIOLE GALL (PACHYPSYLLA VENUSTA OSTEN
SACKEN) ; f : ; : : :
HACKBERRY NopULE GALL (P ACHYPSYLLA CELTIDIS-GEMMA
RILEY) ‘ : : 3 : : : f
HACKBERRY BLISTER GALL (Bache. PSYLLA CELTIDIS-VESICU-
LUM RILEY) : ; : :
HACKBERRY NIPPLE GALL (Pacuy PSYLLA CELTIDIS-MAMMA
RILEY) ; : é : :
HACKBERRY MELON GALL (Pacny PSYLLA CELTIDIS-CUCURBITE
RILEY) : : : : é
WitcH Hazeu Cone GALy (Gor MAPHIS HAMAMELIDIS PircHy)
SPINY Witcu Haze_ Gat, (HORMAPHISOSPINOSUS SHINER)
Cocx’s Comp E_m Gai (CoLoPHA ULMICOLA FiTCH)
Sumac Tomato GALL (PEMPHIGUS RHOIS FiTcH)
PopLaR STEM GALL (PEMPHIGUS POPULICAULIS FITCH)
Hickory Lousrt GaLt (PHYLLOXERA CARYACAULIS FITCH).
Wi Lp CHEerry Pouch GALL (ACARUS SEROTINE BEUTEN.)
SUPPLEMENTS.
Roy INion a2
PAGE
I20
120
bak
I2t
20
122
ree
res
£23
123
124
124
124
A GENERAL GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL
HISTORY.
THE AMERICAN Museum oF Natura History: SoutH FACADE
THE READING-Room. No. 503
FirtH FLoor (PLAN) ,
Hau oF Fossizr Mammats. No. 406
FourtH FLoor (PLAN) g
Morcan Hatt oF MINERALOGY. No. 404 ; .
Louspat Hatt oF MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN eee B-
oLocy. No. 402 : R : ;
Hat oF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. No. 408
THIRD FLoor (PLAN) : ; ‘ : :
TERMITE Nest, THREE Feet HicH. In Hatt No. 307
x
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE Group OF BEACH-BREEDING BIRDS OF Gonms IsLAND. In
NortH AMERICAN Birp HALu. No. 308 : ;
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE DISPOSITION OF SPECIMENS IN EACH OF
THE SYSTEMATIC EXHIBITS ILLUSTRATING THE CULTURE OF
FouRTEEN LOCALITIES IN ANCIENT SOUTH AMERICA
SECOND FLoorR (PLAN) ‘ ; :
MAMMALS AND Birps. CENTRAL HALL, No. 204
Birp Hatt. NortxH Wine, No. 208 ;
CULTURE OF THE BASKET- Maas OF SOUTHEASTERN UTAH.
A CaAsE IN HAatu No. 202
First Fioor (PLAN) . :
Nortu AMERICAN Forestry. Haut No. 106
ETHNOLOGY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA. HAtt No.
108 ; Z 2
DIsTRIBUTION OF nes UrESTEEE BY THE pene Mawr:
Paciric EXPEDITION. SEE Ha.ts Nos. 108, 102, ror
Eskimo Woman, WEsT Coast oF Hupson Bay. HattiNo. 102.
CHUKCHEE MAN, EASTERN SIBERIA. Hatt No. tor
TENG 2:
BIRDS’ NESTS AND EGGS.
Duck Hawk. Group, Hau No. 204
Kery-PLANS SECOND, OR MAIN, FLooR
a ‘“ THIRD, OR GALLERY, FLOOR
CLAPPER RaiILt. Group, Haru No. 208
VARIATIONS IN CoLor oF BirRpDs’ EcGcs
YELLOW-BILLED Cuckoo. Group, Hatt No. 308
Brack Duck. Group, Hatt No. 208
Woopcock. Group, HAtu No. 208
RuUFFED GROUSE. Group, Hatt No. 208
ScREECH OwL. Group, HALu No. 208
BANK SWALLOW. Group, Hatt No. 208
BLackK AND WHITE WARBLER. Group, HALL No. 408
Worm-EaTInG WARBLER. Group, HA. No. 308
Louisiana WATER-THRUSH. Group, Hatt No. 308
Lonc-BILLED MarsH WREN. Group, Hatt No. 308
x1
PAGE
42
52
ILLUSTRATIONS
To MNO 2:
PRIMITIVE ART.
VIGNETTE. BASKET . }
DyInc WaRRIOR, DECORATION FOR MASK
SEAL, DECORATION FOR MAsk
BEAVER, DECORATION FOR TOTEM-POLE
PurFin, DECORATION FOR TOTEM-POLE
KILLER-WHALE, DECORATION FOR MAsk
ScuLPIN, DECORATION FOR SPEAR-HEAD .
Doc-Fisu, DECORATION FOR SPEAR-HEAD
Soup, DECORATION FOR Mask
First FLoor, Hatt 108. (PLAN)
PAINTED HatT
Box, FisH DeEsIGn
BLANKET BORDER
BRACELET ; : 2
PAINTING FROM A HousE-FRONT
BASKETS ,
PATTERNS FOR BASKETS
TAIL-PIECE
PAINTED BLANKET
Younc Woman’s HeEap-Banp
War-AXE
DRINKING-TUBE
Bac AND BASKETS
BASKETS
BASKETS AND Hat : ;
First Froor, Hatt 102. (PLAN)
Bac witH DesiIGN IN BEAD-WoRK
PAINTED DESIGN ON RAWHIDE . : ;
PAINTED DESIGNS
BaGs witH BEADING
MoccasIN AND BaG DESIGNS
BiacKFroot DESIGN :
Poucu Desicns, BEAD-WoRK . f
Poucu anv Moccasin Desicns, BEAD-WorK
Woven DESIGNS
Woven DEsIGns
xii
PAGE,
Ooo women DADA WAAAH
ILLUSTRATIONS
BEADED BELTS ; ;
TaiL-PIECE. BEADED BASKET .
SPIRAL PATTERNS
SPIRAL PATTERNS
BrrcH-Bark BASKET ’ ;
SECOND Fioor, HALu 202. DIAGRAM
BASKETS FROM CALIFORNIA :
BELTS AND RispBons. HuvicHoi DESIGNS
RispBoN Desicns. HvIcHou
CEREMONIAL DESIGNS
Xlll
LONG-TAILED JAPANESE FOWLS
(See page 7)
The American Museum Journal
VoL. IV. JANUARY, 1904. No. I
=4\HI Supplement issued with this number of the
| JouRNAL takes theform of a General Guide to the
exhibition halls of the Museum. It has been pre-
pared for the purpose of facilitating a rapid sur-
vey of the collections which have been placed on
view. Those halls which have already received extended treat-
ment in the Supplements of the JOURNAL are passed over with
few words, in order to devote more space to the remainder. The
twelve Guide Leaflets which have preceded this one will be
found to supplement it in as many important directions. Other
Guide Leaflets to special exhibits and to the halls as units are in
course of preparation, and will be issued from time to time.
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MINERALS AND GEMS OF THE
MORGAN COLLECTIONS TOWARD RADIUM AND
OTHER SOURCES OF LIGHT.
DuriNG the past summer, Dr. George F. Kunz, Honorary
Curator of Gems, and Professor Charles M. Baskerville, Professor
of Chemistry in the University of North Carolina, made a care-
ful study of the action of ultra-violet light, Roentgen rays and
radium upon the specimens in the Bement-Morgan and Tiffany-
Morgan collections. These collections are the most complete of
authenticated minerals and gems on exhibition in the country
and give a unique opportunity for the observation of fluores-
cence and phosphorescence resulting from treatment in the
manner indicated. In all, about 13,000 verified minerals and
gems in these collections were carefully studied. In addition
to these, the investigators submitted to the sources of radio-
activity selected stones from about 15,000 British Guiana dia-
monds, and two particularly handsome diamonds, one of which
3
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
was a tiffanyite, besides several carbonados. The radium pre-
parations used were of the highest activity obtainable, and were
secured for the Museum through the liberality of Mr. Edward
D. Adams. The results here announced were obtained through
the use of radium bromide of 300,000 and radium chloride of
7,000 activity, and with radium barium carbonate of roo activity,
uranium being taken as the standard at 1.
Minerals may be separated tentatively into those which
rt. Do not respond to radium, ultra-violet or Roentgen rays.
2. Respond to radium only.
3. Respond to ultra-violet rays only.
4. Respond to Roentgen rays only.
5. Respond to radium and ultra-violet rays (not to Roentgen
rays).
6. Respond to radium and Roentgen rays (not to ultra-violet
rays).
7. Respond to ultra-violet and Roentgen rays (not to radium).
8. Respond to radium, ultra-violet rays and Roentgen rays.
With ultra-violet rays it was found that minerals from Lang-
ban, Sweden, behave differently from the same species from
other localities. The obvious suggestion is that here, and at
points where similar exceptional results appear, as at Borax
Lake, there is present some rare (perhaps new) element, widely
diffused in very minute quantities. An illustration is given by
the behavior of glauberite; specimens from Borax Lake, Cali-
fornia, Laramie and Spain phosphoresce, while specimens from
Chile do not.
It is noteworthy that tourmaline, which is so markedly
pyroelectric, gives no response; nor does beryl, save in three
specimens from Haddam Neck, Conn. American sapphires of
various kinds, spinel, chrysoberyl and almost all jades, gave
no response to the ultra-violet rays. Most of the gem-minerals,
except diamond, opal and kunzite, are little acted upon.
The studies indicate the presence with the zinc in willemite
and hydrozincite and in the artificial phosphorescent zinc sulphide
and zinc oxide, of some element, probably not yet determined,
that possesses peculiar properties, one that in combination with
4
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
a zinc mineral gives high luminosity ee the application of
radium, or any other radio-active body.
The variable action of fluorspar with the various kinds of rays
makes it probable that there exists in that mineral either yttrium
or ytterbium, or some other related rare earth, or perhaps sev-
eral of them.
Some highly active element seems to be present in all of the
numerous and complex minerals from Borax Lake, California,
but it is not responsive to radium. This is evidently a sub-
stance not necessarily radio-active itself, but one possessing the
same or allied properties with the substance found with the zinc
minerals. A slight exposure for one or two seconds causes all of
them to phosphoresce, sometimes for a full minute.
The substance present in calcite from Franklin, N. J., and
from Langban and Pajsberg, Sweden, is probably yet another
body, as it does not respond to radium; although the willemite
found with the calcite at Franklin responds in marked degree
not only to radium, but also to actinium, polonium, Roentgen
rays and ultra-violet rays. The willemite, furthermore, is tribo-
luminescent, emitting light even when struck against the side of
a glass full of water. When powdered, this mineral serves
admirably for radio screens, being almost if not quite as good
for this and similar purposes as the artificial platinum-barium
cyanide. The new lilac-colored spodumene from California,
named kunzite by Professor Baskerville (Sczence, September 4,
1903), responds wonderfully to the influence of radium, actinium,
polonium, Roentgen rays and ultra-violet rays, and is strongly
pyro-electric.
There probably exists in autunite, and another yellow-brown
uranium mineral from Texas, a fluorescent substance which dif-
fers from anything elsewhere noted in the collection.
In the hyalite, from San Luis Potosi, a volcanic mineral,
there is present something that responds with a beauty of color
that strikingly reminds one of nitrate of uranium; this may be
still another substance.
The most responsive of all, however, whether to radium,
actinium, polonium, Roentgen rays, ultra-violet rays or mag-
5
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
nesium light, were the diamonds to which Dr. Kunz gave the
name tiffanyite in a paper read before the New York Academy
of Sciences in December, 1895. These stones contain a peculiar
substance which gives them what is known as the blue-white
color. They are fluorescent like anthracene, and hold the lumi-
nosity for a long time.
At the meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences held
in the Museum on October 6, 1903, Dr. Kunz gave a summary
account of his and Professor Baskerville’s interesting and valua-
ble investigations, illustrating his remarks with many specimens.
The scientific aspect of the studies is discussed in the American
Fournal of Science for December, 1903, and January, 1904.
AN EXTINCT CAVE FAUNA IN ARKANSAS.
aa) GREAT part of the evidence as to the antiquity of
| §=©Man in the Old World has been found in ancient
caves, where his bones or indications of his exist-
ence have been found associated with remains of
many extinct animals of the Pleistocene Epoch or
earlier. But in this country the exploration of caves has until
recently yielded very meagre results as to extinct animals, and
has added practically nothing to our evidence of the antiquity
of Man. Within the last two years, however, explorations con-
ducted by Professor F. W. Putnam and Dr. J. C. Merriam in the
Pleistocene caves of California, have brought to light a large
series of fossil remains, mostly of extinct species of animals, and
recently another rich cave deposit, equally ancient, has been
found in Arkansas, and is now being investigated by this Mu-
seum. This deposit was discovered by Dr. Teller, and we owe
to the good offices of Professor Putnam the opportunity to
explore it. Mr. Barnum Brown, who was sent out for this pur-
pose by Professor Osborn last summer, has already succeeded in
making a collection consisting of some thousands of specimens of
over thirty species of animals, many of them extinct. The col-
lection is especially rich in remains of small mammals such as
6
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
rats, mice, shrews, bats, weasels and hares. No certain indica-
tions of Man have yet been recognized, but it is hoped that
further explorations may give some definite evidence as to his
existence, as this would be the most conclusive proof yet fur-
nished of the antiquity of Man in the New World.
W. D. M.
THE LONG-TAILED JAPANESE FOWLS.
mati HE long-tailed Japanese fowls (see frontispiece) se-
cured for the Museum by Prof. Bashford Dean
have recently been mounted and placed on exhi-
bition in the Bird Hall. Professor Dean states
that this peculiar breed of fowls has been so long
established (it was known in Corea prior to A.D. tooo) that its
wild ancestors cannot be determined. It appears, however, to
have been developed solely through artificial selection by breeders,
from birds in which, because of failure to molt, the tail-feathers
continued to grow for an indefinite period. In the Province of
Tosa, in the Island of Shikoku (the third largest island of the
Japanese group) breeders were encouraged by the Daimyo of the
Province to produce fowls with especially long feathers which
were of heraldic importance and were used by the Daimyo as
decorations for his spear.
The best individuals of this fowl are still grown in the Pro-
vince of Tosa where Professor Dean procured the specimens now
owned by the Museum. The industry, however, probably
through lack of governmental support, is now on the wane, so
much attention being required to produce long-feathered birds
that their breeding is not commercially profitable.
The birds are given high perches as their feathers develop,
are fed with great care on nourishing food, and the long feathers
are wrapped in mulberry paper to protect them from dirt and
abrasion. It is said that a growth of six inches per month has
been obtained by proper treatment, and the longest recorded
feather measured twenty feet and two inches. The tail of the
best developed Museum specimen measures fourteen feet.
7
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
DRAUGHT HORSE—SIDE VIEW
THE DRAUGHT, HORSE INACTION.
Sea HE latest addition to the alcove exhibiting the
SEL evolution of the Horse, as the gift of Mr. William
C. Whitney, is a mounted skeleton which repre-
sents a draught horse in action.
In the general plan of preparation for this
alcove the Curator, Professor Osborn, designed two series: the
first, of fossil horses, and of the wild horses, asses and zebras so
far as they can be secured, to show the evolution of the Horse in
a state of nature; the second, of the domesticated horses, show-
ing the modification of the skeleton as brought about by the
artificial selection of man. This double set will give a number
of comparisons and contrasts of the most interesting character,
for it will demonstrate that natural selection has been quite as
effective as artificial selection in producing great extremes of
structure.
ee)
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
\
The three types selected to show the varieties of the domesti-
cated Horse are, the largest
and most powerful form,
the Percheron or draught
horse, the Shetland pony to
show the smallest and least
powerful form, and the race
horse to show the swiftest
form. Of these the draught
horse has been finished, the
Shetland pony is now in
preparation, and Mr. Whit-
ney is interesting himself in
the selection of a suitable
skeleton of a race horse.
The Percheron horse, the
skeleton of which has been
prepared to show the
draught horse type, was
presented by Mr. George
Ehret. In life the animal
weighed 2160 lbs., and was
5 ft. 6} inches in height at
the withers. Preparatory
to the mounting, Mr. 8S. H.
Chubb, who has had entire
charge of the preparation
of this series under the di-
rection of Professor Osborn,
took a large series of photo-
graphs of the side, front
and rear views of similar
horses hauling heavy loads,
in order to ascertain as
nearly as possible the posi-
tion of every part of the
skeleton when the animal is
DRAUGHT HORSE—VIEW FROM ABOVE AND BEHIND
2
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
so employed. Then began the difficult task of mounting. The
result is considered completely successful. It throws light not
only upon the osteology of the draught horse, but on the signifi-
cance of various features of the skeleton in general.
In studying the mounted skeleton we have to imagine that
the shoulders rest against a collar, against which the horse is
throwing its weight and exerting its energy. To this end the
head and body are lowered, the fore limbs acting chiefly as sup-
ports, although part of the weight is thrown against the col-
lar. The hind limbs are doing the greater amount of the work;
they are the real propellors of the body. In the side view the
exact position of each of the limbs is shown, and the flexure of
the various joints, also the fact that the backbone is lowered
toward the ground and that the head is thrown over to one side.
A still more striking point of view is that from above and
behind. We here note that the right half of the pelvis has been
lowered and thrown well to the left, so that the right hip joint
has been brought much nearer the mid-line than the left. The
purpose of this is to transmit the energy from the hind limb as
nearly as possible through the central or main axis of the body.
This is further facilitated by the curvature of the backbone.
At the next moment the left leg will get its “‘purchase,” the
right being released; the pelvis then swings to the right side,
the curve in the backbone becomes reversed, and the power of the
left hind limb is applied similarly along the main axis of the
animal; and so on from step to step.
The skeleton of an animal is popularly considered its least
interesting part; but this method of illustrating its adaptation
for special purposes, by representing it in various kinds of action,
immediately transforms the skeleton into a subject of the great-
est interest. In fact, the wonderful evolution of the Horse as it
will be shown in the fossil series can only be thoroughly under-
stood when taken in connection with the special motions and
actions of the living Horse.
The race horse will be mounted as running at full speed; the
Shetland pony as in the act of grazing. Another mount, nearly
ready for exhibition, is of a rearing horse held in check by a man.
| fe)
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Cychrus eneicollis, Male. Anthophilax hoffmanii. Male and female.
NEW NORTH CAROLINA BEETLES
DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY: EXPEDITION OF 1903.
ROUGH provision made by Mr. Samuel V. Hoff-
man, the curator of the Department of Ento-
mology, Mr. William Beutenmtller, was enabled
to make a trip in May and June, 1903, to the
Black Mountains of North Carolina, in continua-
tion of the work of previous years. The unusual rains which
prevailed during May prevented full success in the collection of
the characteristic species of the season, still about 7,000 speci-
mens were obtained. In the series there are many species not
before represented in the Museum collections and some that were
new to science. Many scientific data were obtained for use in
the preparation of the contemplated work on the Insect Fauna
of the Black Mountains, North Carolina, and adjacent Ranges.
Some of the new and the rarer previously known species ob-
tained on the present expedition were made the basis of an
article which was published in the Museum bulletin during Sep-
tember last. One of the new forms was named Anthophilax
hoffmanu, or Hoffman’s longhorn beetle, in honor of the late
Very Rev. E. A. Hoffman, whose interest in entomology and
whose friendship for the Museum greatly enriched the Depart-
wT
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
ment during his life. This species, figures of which appear on
page 11, has bright metallic green forewings and a brassy-black
thorax. The beetle lives in the dense evergreen forests which
cover the summits of the Black Mountains, and its larva feeds in
the wood of the balsam-fir. Among other rareties brought back
are several species of the genus Cychrus. These beetles, one of
which is figured on page 11, devour live snails for food.
THE ARCHAZOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO THE
COLUMBIA VALLEY.
Ba) RCH AOLOGICAL explorations of the Jesup North
E Pacific Expedition were carried on in 1897 by Mr.
Harlan I. Smith in the Thompson and Fraser
River Valleys of southern British Columbia; and
in 1898-99 in the shell-heaps along the coasts of
British Columbia and Washington. In continuance of the gen-
eral archeological reconnoissance thus begun in the Northwest,
the Columbia Valley was chosen as the field for research during
the field season of 1903. The region is exceedingly dry and sup-
ports no trees except in the river bottoms, or where irrigation
has been successfully prosecuted. The country has come to be
known for its production of fruit, hops, hay and wheat raised by
means of irrigation.
The Museum already had some heterogeneous collections
from the Columbia Valley in the vicinity of The Dalles and Port-
land which indicated that the prehistoric culture of the region
was different from that of either the coast of Washington or the
Thompson River country. The latter lies immediately to the
north of the Yakima Valley, which was chosen as the base of
operations for the new investigations. It was thought that by
working in the Yakima Valley the boundary between the culture
of The Dalles and that of the Thompson River region might be
determined. The material however discovered by the expedi-
tion seems to prove that the Yakima Valley was inhabited by
people having a culture which previously had been unknown to
science.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
In the region were found numerous evidences of the close
communication of the people of this culture with tribes of the
Thompson River region. Underground house sites, tubular
pipes, engraved dentalium shells, a decoration consisting of a
circle with a dot in it, and rock-slide sepulchres, each of a par-
ticular kind, were found to be peculiar to both regions.
Considerable material of the same art as that found in The
Dalles region was seen. It is clear that the people living in the
Yakima Valley had extensive dealings both with the tribes
northward, as far as the Thompson Valley, and southward, as
far as The Dalles of the Columbia. In this connection it is in-
teresting to note that the present Indians of the region travel
even more extensively than would be necessary to distribute
their artifacts this far. Much less evidence of contact between
the prehistoric people of the coast of Washington and that of the
Yakima Valley was discovered. A pipe, however, was seen
which is clearly of the art of the northwest coast. It was found
far up the Toppenish River (one of the western tributaries of the
Yakima).
From the Yakima Valley the expedition was transferred to
the lower Cowlitz River for work down that stream and along
the Columbia from Portland to its mouth, partly to determine
whether or not a portion of the evidences of coast culture which
were found in the Yakima Valley had not come up the Cowlitz
and down the Toppenish River, since the headwaters of the Cow-
litz and the Toppenish are near each other. In this region many
specimens were secured. The main work, however, was done in
the Yakima Valley, where many photographs were taken, not
only of archeological sites but also of the country in general.
Human remains, which are useful in determining the type of
these old people, were also collected.
The most remarkable specimen secured was a piece of antler
carved in human form. This was very thin and when found it
was nearly as soft as so much sawdust or moulder’s sand pressed
together tightly. Proper treatment has rendered the object
quite hard and able to bear handling. It was found under the
vertebree of a child in a grave. The grave was of peculiar in-
3
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
terest, because, contrary to usual practice, the body had been
enclosed in a rude box made by placing about it thin slabs of
stone, and the cist thus formed had been covered with jagged
fragments of rock, over which earth was spread. This doll-like
carving of antler is considered to be one of the finest pieces of
prehistoric art ever found in Northwestern America.
On the whole the expedition may be considered particularly
fortunate in getting archeological data and material which tend
to prove the occupation of the Yakima region by a people of a
hitherto unknown culture.
DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALZONTOLOGY:
FIELD EXPLORATIONS IN 1903.
<
iS ~<6)):
ee ear
HE past summer was a very successful season for
the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Five expeditions were in the field, three for
fossil mammals, two for fossil reptiles, and all
have met with much success. The objects of
the expeditions were:
tr. Yurassic Dinosaurs. The great Bone Cabin Quarry in
Wyoming continues to furnish fine specimens of these gigantic
extinct reptiles. For this season the prize specimen, found by
Mr. Kaison, is a complete skull and the jaws of a great Amphibi-
ous Dinosaur, hitherto one of the especial needs of the collection.
2. Cretaceous Reptiles. Two years ago Mr. Harry Dougherty
of Hat Creek, Wyoming, discovered part of a fossil skeleton not
far from his ranch. This specimen was purchased for the Mu-
seum by Professor Osborn, and through Mr. Dougherty’s courtesy
our representative was able to look over the neighborhood where
it was found. It seemed to promise well for further discoveries,
and accordingly Mr. Barnum Brown was sent out last spring to
explore it. He found a number of complete skeletons of Mosa-
saurs fifteen to twenty feet long, and incomplete skeletons of
Plesiosaurs forty feet long. These were great carnivorous mar-
ine reptiles, the Plesiosaurs with long snaky neck, while the
Mosasaurs were more compactly built.
14
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
3. Eocene Mammals. Mr. Walter Granger had charge of
this expedition, in southwestern Wyoming, and succeeded in
sending in a large and remarkably fine collection of these rare
fossils. The series is especially rich in the monkeys, rodents
and small carnivora of the Middle Eocene, which until now have
been very inadequately represented in our collections.
4. Mutocene Mammals. Mr. J. W. Gidley was in charge of
this expedition, in South Dakota, and obtained a fine skeleton,
nearly complete, of the Miocene ancestor of the camels, besides
a number of skulls and other fine specimens of extinct Horses,
Camels, Carnivores and Rodents of the Upper Miocene, which
will greatly add to our representation of these animals.
5. Pleistocene Cave Mammals of Arkansas. This collection
is referred to on page 6.
SOME EXTRAORDINARY ANTS.
aA HERE has just been placed on exhibition in the
Synoptic Hall of the Museum a collection to illus-
trate the strange phenomena of gynandromorph-
ism, a subject considered by Professor W. M.
Wheeler, Curator of Invertebrate Zodlogy, in a
recent paper in the Bulletin’ of the Museum issued in December.
As the name indicates, a gynandromorph is an animal the body
of which is partly male and partly female. The male and female
characters may be either blended, as in the cases of male animals
with female coloring or sculpture, or mosaic, as in animals having
the body made up, as it were, of male and female pieces, just as a
mosaic pavement is composed of different pieces of marble. The
mosaic type of gynandromorphism is the more frequent, though
this is merely a relative expression, since all cases of gynandro-
morphism are extremely rare. The six new cases of gynandro-
morphous ants described in Professor Wheeler’s paper were found
only after examining many thousands of specimens during a
period of four years. In most of the known cases of gynandro-
morphism, the body is divided into halves, one of which is male,
1 Bull. Am: Mus. Nat. Hast. vol. xix, Article xxix, pp. 653-683, rx
figures, 1903.
15
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
the other female (lateral gynandromorphism). This phase of
the phenomenon is illustrated in the accompanying figure. An-
other group of cases comprises anomalies with the anterior por-
tion of the body of a different sex from the posterior portion
(frontal or “‘tandem’’ gynandromorphism). Still other cases
have the dorsal side of one, the ventral
Of an oper siex x (transversal gynan-
dromorphs). The f YY division between the
sexual regions is : ) seldom maintained
throws howt-the PF | whole body. Often
the sexual charac- \ Ny ters are irregularly
J
\ gynandromorph-
All these peculi-
arities are traceable to disturbances in
the development of the egg or larva, but
bHeMexach Mate Oly 7a anata ay ace uO disturbances
has not been ascer- (zp:pheidole inquilinaWheeler) tained, nor will they
be understood until Rees eee Ri aa : it Is possible to pro-
duce such Mixed mostlyfemele, Thefieureiseready animals experimenn
allye g-lhey may tes <2): sult from the fusion
of two eggs originally of different sexes, to form a single animal;
or they may arise from a single egg in which the fertilization has
taken an abnormal course; or again they may perhaps be pro-
duced by nutritional disturbances in different parts of the young
larva or pupa.
Many gynandromorphs, but not all, are also hermaphroditic ;
that is, they have both male and female reproductive organs
corresponding with the parts of the body contributed by the two
sexes. In cases, however, where the whole abdomen is of one
sex, the animal is properly a male or female, though its head may
16
arranged (mixed
ism).
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
be of the opposite sex. (ynandromorphous ants are especially
interesting, on account of the great differences between the
normal sexual forms. When the characters of the male and
female are united in the same individual, some absurdly asym-
metrical creatures are the result, such as forms with a big (male)
eye and small (male) mandible on one side, and a small (female) eye
and large (female) mandible on the other. When the male and
worker (that is, abortive female) characters are united in lateral
gynandromorphs, we have wings only on the male side of the
body, and the thorax on the worker side is defective, etc. The
great majority of known gynandromorphs occur among insects,
and among these the honey bees and ants have contributed a
proportionally very large number of cases.
THE MEXICAN COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL.
EAR the entrance on the ground floor there has been
placed a special exhibit of the Mexican Cotton-
boll Weevil, the insect which has been and is
doing so much damage in the Cotton Belt of the
South. The insect is a beetle (Anuthonomus gran-
dis) which deposits its eggs in the young cotton boll. The
developing larva consumes the cotton-producing tissue within
the boll and prevents the formation of the cotton, or greatly
injures the product. The exhibit shows the insect in its different
stages of growth, together with affected and unaffected bolls.
The maps forming a part of the exhibit indicate the recent rapid
extension of the pest from its original home in Mexico over the
cotton-raising areas of Texas.
Two hundred African butterflies have been given to the
Museum by Mr. Samuel V. Hoffman to be added to the great
series of butterflies which is the donation of the late Very Rev.
E. A. Hoffman.
A WELCOME addition to the insect collections is the series of
North American Diptera (Flies) recently presented by Professor
William M. Wheeler, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology. The col-
lection contains more than 8,ooo specimens, representing about
1,000 species. There are types of 169 species.
17
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
CLIMATIC VARIATION IN COLOR AND SIZE OF SONG
SPARROWS.
ILLUSTRATING EVOLUTION BY ENVIRONMENT.
7... 0 ae,
afi HE first exhibit of several designed to illustrate
variation in the color and size of birds due to
climatic agencies, has recently been placed in the
local bird hall and is here figured. It includes
the leading types of Song Sparrows, a species
which is particularly susceptible to the influences of its environ-
ment, no less than twenty climatic varieties, geographical races,
or subspecies of this wide-ranging bird being known.
Observe that east of the Rocky Mountains, in a region where
climatic conditions are quite uniform, only one well-marked sub-
species of Song Sparrow is found; but that west of the Rocky
Mountains, where there are widely varying climatic conditions,
sixteen subspecies of Song Sparrow are known, twelve of them
from California alone.
Note the striking relation between the colors of the various
races and the aridity and the humidity of the areas they inhabit.
Thus the palest-colored race, the Desert Song Sparrow (No. 5,
Melos piza cinerea fallax), inhabits the most arid portion of North
America, the desert region of Nevada, Arizona and southeastern
California, where the annual rainfall averages about six inches;
while the darkest-colored race, the Sooty Song Sparrow (No. 2,
Melospiza cinerea rufina), inhabits the most humid portion of
North America, the coast region of British Columbia and south-
ern Alaska, where the annual rainfall may reach one hundred
and twenty-five inches.
Note that, in obedience to the law that animals increase in
size toward the north, the largest race, the Aleutian Song Spar-
row (No. 1, Welospiza cinerea cinerea), is the most northern, and,
the smallest race, the Mexican Song Sparrow (No. 6, Melospiza
cinerea mexicana), is the most southern.
Between the lightest and darkest, the smallest and largest,
Song Sparrows, however, there is complete intergradation in
accordance with the change in the conditions which affect their
color and size. E,W.)
18
DISTRIBUTION OF SONG SPARROWS
EQ
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAIOLOGY: EXPLORATIONS IN
THE SOUTHWEST.
of Mr. George H. Pepper of the Department of
Archeology. The scene of operations was the
Pueblo Region of New Mexico and Arizona. The
object of the trip was not merely the enrichment of the South-
western Collections of the Museum, but also and more especially
the study of the arts and habits of the sedentary people in order
that the survival of ancient practices might be detected in the
collections which have resulted from former investigations in
this part of the country.
In considering the various phases of Southwestern anthropo-
logical work, a student has always been confronted with the lack
of absolute data concerning the ceramic arts of the various
pueblos as viewed in a comparative way. Collections made in
the field had, in many instances, been rendered unreliable for
scientific study from the fact that all vessels were accredited to
the pueblos in which they were found, and were, therefore, looked
upon as typical productions of that village. This naturally had
a misleading tendency and it was almost impossible for a scien-
tist to make a definite statement concerning the absolute types
that might be found in any specified pueblo. There were excep-
tions of course as the result of monographs by careful investiga-
tors who had made a special study of some particular village,
but in general no authentic records were available.
Mrs. Robert de Forest of this city, who is an earnest student
of ceramics, and Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst of San Francisco became
interested in this phase of the Museum’s investigation in the
Southwest and liberally codperated in the plan. Thus strength-
ened the Hyde Expedition was enabled to carry on the work
on a greater scale than otherwise would have been possible.
Mr. Pepper first went to Espafiola and from there visited the
pueblos of Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Nambe and
Tesuque. One of the ceremonial dances at the pueblo of Santa
20
~
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Clara was witnessed. San Juan, Picoris and Tesuque next re-
ceived attention. After this work was completed, the Hopi
region was visited, the time selected being the occasion of the
Antelope and Snake dances at Walpi. In the pueblos of Hano,
Sichomavi and Walpi, special attention was devoted to the work
of the Hopi potters, particularly Nampayo of Hano, who is the
only one living that has made a careful study of the old pig-
ments and clays.
On the second Mesa the pueblos of Mashongnavi and Shungo-
pavi were visited, and the Snake Dance at Mashongnavi observed.
Oraibi, the seventh of the Hopi pueblos, situated fifteen miles to
the west of the second Mesa, came next. During the stay in
this pueblo the wonderful Flute ceremony was enacted. From
the Hopi region the route taken led to the pueblo of Laguna in
the western part of New Mexico, and from there to Acoma,
where the Fiesta de San Esteban was seen. While in the pueblo
of Isleta the Fiesta de San Augustine took place.
Visits to the pueblos of Jemez, Zia, Santa Ana, Ranchitas
de Santa Ana, Sandia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Cochiti and
Zuni completed the season’s work, which included all of the
twenty-six ‘mother pueblos,’ now inhabited.
The subject of primitive pottery-making as represented in
the various groups was carefully considered and the technique
of each culture was investigated. Samples of the materials used
in the manufacture of pottery were obtained as well as represen-
tative forms of finished vessels from each pottery-making pueblo.
Nearly one thousand negatives were made to supplement the
field notes, and to enhance the value of the exhaustive card cata-
logue pertaining to Southwestern ceramics, which is now in the
course of preparation. The laboratory work is now progressing,
and when the vessels have been catalogued and photographed,
the set will be divided among the three contributors to the
expedition.
21
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
THE EER I Or Chu kCHn Ey CLOMEUNG:
THE Chukchee of Eastern Siberia are divided into two well-
marked groups, the Maritime, who live along the coast, and the
Reindeer, whose home is in the interior. The mode of life of
the two branches offers certain striking differences. For both
divisions the climate is hard and the cold in winter extreme,
and even in summer the thermometer seldom rises above 45° F.
The clothing of both branches is devised with special reference to
protection against the extreme cold and the driving winds, and
at the same time to allow freedom of movement in the active
life which the people lead.
The Reindeer Chukchee, having better skins and furs at their
disposal, have developed the winter clothing to a much higher
point than their Maritime relatives, while with regard to summer
clothing the contrary is the case. Through barter each division
has obtained from the other its best kinds of garments, and as a
consequence the general character of the clothing worn by the
two divisions is the same. All kinds are in the collection.
The chief material used is reindeer skin, that from fawns in
the late summer being preferred. This is prepared by tanning or
scraping. Sealskin is also used, the preparation being the same.
Waterproof suits of the intestines of walrus and seal are also worn
in summer, an idea which has been borrowed from the Eskimo.
Cloth obtained from American whalers and Russian traders is
made into outside garments as a special protection against wind
and snow.
The Chukchee man’s clothing is very practical, and the cut
and style have been adopted by all the neighboring tribes. The
suit consists of hood, coat, trousers, boots and mittens of rein-
deer skin. The coat is a loose, double garment with fur both in-
side and out. The garment is really two coats, one fitting closely
inside the other, which are not fastened together, but can be
quickly separated and dried. The double coat is put on over
the head, and the neck opening is drawn close with a string. The
sleeves are tight at the wrist and very loose at the shoulder, and
the skirts are ample. The coat thus permits very free use of the
arms and body, and can be slipped on and off easily and quickly.
22
‘&
S
CHUKCHEE MAN, SHOWING WINTER CLOTHING
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The trousers are made from the skin of the legs of the reindeer,
the hair being directed downward so as to shed the snow readily.
They are held about the body by a string.
The boots are also of skin, and the soles are made of fur taken
from the feet of the reindeer, which is coarse and tough and
durable. Stockings of lighter fur are worn. Grass insoles are
often placed inside the boots. The boot-legs are slipped under
the trousers, which are then tightened about the ankles.
Mittens, likewise of reindeer skin, are made with the hair
running up the hand to give a better grip. The wrists of the
mittens are slipped inside the sleeves of the coat.
The Chukchee woman’s dress is by no means as practical as
that of the man. It consists of coat and trousers to the knee in
one piece, and is drawn on over the feet through the neck-open-
ing. The sleeves are wide and open,and the neck is cut low, both
back and front, affording little protection against the cold. The
legs of the suit are loose and baggy. Stockings of reindeer skin
are worn, which are thick and bulky about the calves. In order
to protect themselves further the women wear overcoats and
capes about the shoulders.
Caps as well as hoods are worn by both sexes. They are made
of the leg skins of reindeer, dogs and wolves. Some caps, es-
pecially those worn by herdsmen and runners, are open at the
top. Sometimes the people wear ear-flaps made of thin skin.
Children wear a complete combination suit of fur with a flap
which covers the buttocks and is passed between the legs and
fastened in front. A pad of moss and reindeer hair is placed
beneath this flap to absorb moisture. For purposes of warmth
the opening for the hand is not placed at the end of the sleeve,
but on the side.
The summer clothing in general is the same in cut and style as
that for winter, except that only one thickness of skin is used.
Summer boots are made of light sealskin, scraped and smoked.
Their cut differs from those of winter and suggests an Eskimo
origin. Sometimes the cast-off winter clothing is worn in
summer, which tends to give the people a shabby appearance then.
24
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
GIANT SPIDER CRAB FROM JAPAN
THE GIANT SPIDER CRAB.
cently placed on exhibition in the Synoptic Hall
(No. 107) on the ground floor of the Museum a
fine specimen of the largest of all Crustaceans, the
Giant Spider Crab, Kempferia (Macrochetra)
kempfert de Haan, which measures somewhat over 12 feet be-
tween the tips of its outstretched claws. This animal is known
to occur to a depth of over 2000 feet in the seas off the coast of
25
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Japan. The largest specimen in any collection is said to be that
in the British Museum. It hasa spread of 18feet. Even larger
specimens are, however, occasionally captured. One is recorded
to have had a spread of 22 feet. The specimen in the Ameri-
can Museum is from Miura-Misaki and was secured by Profes-
sor Bashford Dean of Columbia University.
EOCENE FOSSIL MAMMALS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 4
sees) SERIES of casts of South American fossil mammals
‘| of the Eocene epoch has been presented to the
American Museum through the courtesy of Dr.
Florentino Ameghino, Director of the Museo Na-
cional at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The rare fos-
sils forming the originals of these casts have only recently been
discovered, and all the specimens are in the museums of the Ar-
gentine Republic. During Eocene time South America was an
island-continent, or perhaps divided into two great islands, and
its animals at that epoch were almost as different from those of
the rest of the world as those of Australia are to-day. Some of
them are considered by Dr. Ameghino to represent very early
stages in the.ancestry of the elephants; others are ancestors of
the fossil mammals of later epochs in the same region, of which
the American Museum has a large collection. The casts are ex-
hibited in the South American Alcove in the Fossil Mammal Hall.
NEWS NOTES.
THE Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy is placing on ex-
hibition in the Synoptic Hall (No. 107) a collection of Protozoa
illustrated by actual specimens and enlarged modes of typi-
cal forms. The actual specimens, to be viewed by the visitor
through microscopes mounted in the cases for this special pur-
pose, have been prepared for the Museum by Dr. Gary N. Calkins
of Columbia University. The series includes beautiful prepara-
tions of well-known animalcules like the Amoeba, Paramoecium,
Vorticella, Peridinium, etc. Dr. Calkins will complete the
26
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
series with a set of pathogenic organisms such as the smallpox
organism (Cytoryctes variole) and the malarial organism (Plas-
modium malarie). The enlarged models, in glass and wax, have
been skilfully prepared by Dr. Dahlgren. Those of the Radio-
larians and Foraminifera are nearly completed.
AMoNnG noted recent visitors to the Museum may be men-
tioned the Moseley Educational Commission, comprising more
than thirty of the prominent educators of Great Britain, which
came in force to examine the building, its halls, and the collec-
tions exhibited therein, for the purpose of comparing this mu-
seum with those in the British Isles. Mr. Moseley ordered from
the Department of Public Instruction one hundred lantern slides
illustrating this museum and the schools, academies and univer-
sities of the State of New York, and their use by classes of pupils.
These slides are to be used by the members of the commission in
their lectures in Great Britain on the subject of education and
educational facilities in the United States.
Dr. T. Storte Drxson, a trustee of the Australian Museum
at Sydney, New South Wales, visited the Museum during No-
vember in the course of a tour around the world for the purpose
of learning what is being done by museums in general for the
education of the people. Dr. Dixson made a thorough inspec-
tion of the special educational features here and ordered a series
of lantern slides representing the country from Honolulu to New
York City and including a full set illustrating this museum.
Tue Department of Public Instruction has issued a series of
slides illustrating native and ornamental trees. The set consists
of seventy-eight views, beginning with the forests of the Adi-
rondack region and ending with the specimens of the Jesup
Collection of North American Forestry in the Museum. Some
of the more familiar species are illustrated by views of the trees
at different stages of growth, the leaf, the trunk, the flower and
the fruit.
PROFESSOR VICTOR GOLDSCHMIDT, professor of crystallography
in the University of Heidelberg, Germany, spent an afternoon
27
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
recently in close examination of the crystallographic treasures
in the mineral collection of the Museum.
THE value of the biograph for use in illustrating lectures upon
natural-history topics was demonstrated to the scientific staff
one afternoon by an exhibition of rolls of pictures of large and
small animals and of microscopic preparations. Among the
subjects were the culture of bees, life in aquaria and the circula-
tion of blood in living tissues. :
Four series of fine skulls and antlers of newly described
caribou have been mounted and placed on exhibition on the walls
of the east corridor near the halls of mammalogy.
On Thanksgiving Day a special exhibit was made in the
central hall of the main floor showing the different kinds of game
birds which are used in connection with Thanksgiving feasts in
different parts of the country. The largest and most striking
of these of course was the wild turkey, the progenitor of the
familiar domesticated fowl. An interesting and little-known
fact was brought out upon the label accompanying this exhibit,
which was that the turkey, although a native of Mexico, and un-
known in Europe before the time of Columbus, was imported
into the northern part of the United States from Europe. The
supposed origin of the fowl is indicated in its name “ Turkey.”’
In other parts of the world, other places of origin are indicated by
local names, as, for instance, in France, where the name “‘ Dinde’’,
indicates that the people first supposed the bird to be a native of
India.
THE late Homer F. Bassett of Waterbury, Conn., was one of
the best-known authorities in the world on the Cynipide or
Gall-Insects. In the course of his studies he assembled a large
collection which was remarkable for the variety and perfection
of its specimens. Mrs. Margaret D. Bassett, his widow, has re-
cently given to the Museum the duplicates from this celebrated
collection. The material presented contains several thousand
specimens of Galls and Gall-Insects, including the types of 68
species described by Mr. Bassett.
28
~
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
THE Museum has had occasion recently to ascertain the size
attained by the horn of the narwhal. The largest of the speci-
mens in its possession is eight feet two inches in length and
weighs fourteen pounds. We should be glad to learn the size of
specimens held by other museums.
THERE have been added to the collections of the Department
of Mineralogy more than 800 specimens of the minerals which
occur in the trap rocks of New Jersey. These were collected
from the rock taken from the Weehawken Tunnel, and were
presented to the Museum by Mr. George W. Talson. The series
consists of specimens of calcite, datolite and several zeolites. An
exhibition series has been selected from the lot and the remainder
is available for the exchange and school suites.
A STRIKING specimen of quartz from Alexander County,
North Carolina, is the gift of the American Gem Company
through Mr. Lucien Zell. The specimen is a composite crystal
consisting of parallel growths of smaller crystals made up of the
prism and the pyramid. Many of the component small crystals
stand out in high relief. The specimen is about 20 inches across.
THROUGH exchange the mineral collection has been enriched
by a beautiful group of chalcedonized turritellas, and a specimen
of the cylindrical beryl from Oriarvi, Finland, showing about
18 faces. Other noteworthy additions to the cases are the
largest apophyllite which has been found at West Paterson, New
Jersey, and a rare specimen of paramelaconite, from Bisbee,
Arizona.
SOME of the specimens in the collection of shells have been
made the subject of an interesting investigation by Messrs. Cole-
man and Handich, who have been studying the mathematical
nature of the spirals of shells.
THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY has recently placed on ex-
hibition a series of fossil corals and shells from the Falls of the
Ohio, and other localities in Indiana; also a fine lot of crinoids
from the noted beds at Crawfordsville, Ind. (see case N), and a
29
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
considerable series of the shells of Haploscapha grandis, Conrad,
echinoderms and other fossils from the Cretaceous beds of Kan-
sas, which were received at the Museum with the second Cope
Collection. Haploscapha belongs to an entirely extinct form of
shell. It usually is classed with [uoceramus which was one of
the most abundant and characteristic forms in the Cretaceous
seas. f
THe WarD-Coon_Ley collection of meteorites which 1s on de-
posit at the Museum was re-arranged and many additions were
made during the month of November. The collection now rep-
resents 598 falls and finds, which places it at the head of the list
of such collections in point of numbers.
Amonc the gifts recently received from the New York Zo6logi-
cal Society are specimens of the following snakes: Bush-Master,
Anaconda, Water Moccasin, Texas Rattler, Diamond-Back Rat-
tler, Black, Viper and Gopher. These have been mounted and
placed on exhibition.
LECTURES.
MEMBERS COURSE
Tue Thursday evening Lectures to Members began in No-
vember with the following programme for the first course of the
season:
November 12.—Dr. Epmunp Otis Hovey, “Mont Pelé and
the Destruction of St. Pierre.”’
November 19.—Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, “The Develop-
ment of New York City.”’
December 3.—Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, “ Niagara.”’
December 10.—Prof. ALBERT S. BicKMorRE, ‘Germany:
Berlin.”
December 17.—Prof. ALBERT 5. BICKMOoRE, “Germany:
Potsdam.”’
January 7.—Prof. Henry F. Ossorn, “The Evolution of the
Horse.”
January 14.—Mr. Frank M. Cuapman, “Island Bird Life.”
30
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
January 21.—Prof. Witt1AmM Morton WHEELER, “ Mimicry
and Protective Coloring in Animals.”’
The programme for the second course 1s:
January 28.—Prof. Franz Boas, “The Scientific Results of
the Jesup North Pacific Expedition.”
February 4.--Mr. George H. Pepper, ‘“‘ The Navajo and other
Blanket-Makers of the Southwest.’
February 11.——_Mr. A. F. Banpe izr, “The Island of Titi-
caca.”’
February 18.—Prof. Livincston Farranp, “The Work of
the American Museum among the Indians of California.”’
February 25.—Mr. ANDREW J. STONE, “Collecting Large
Arctic Mammals.”’
March 3.—Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, “Holland: Amster-
dam and Haarlem.”’
March 1to.—Prof. ALBERT S. BrcKMorkE, ‘“‘ Holland: Rotterdam
and The Hague.”
March 17.—Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, “ Belgium: Antwerp
and Bruges.”’
March 24.—Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, “ Belgium: Brussels
and Waterloo.”
TEACHERS COURSE
THE next course of Lectures to Teachers will be given by
Prof. Albert S. Bickmore Saturday mornings, in accordance with
the following programme :
January 23 and 30.—Holland: Amsterdam and Haarlem.
February 6 and 13.—Holland: Rotterdam and The Hague.
February 20 and 27.—Belgium: Antwerp and Bruges.
March 5 and 12.—Belgium: Brussels and Waterloo.
LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE
THE lectures in this course are by members of the scientific
staff of the Museum and are open to the public. No tickets
are required for admittance. Five of the lectures have been
given, but two remain to be delivered.
Labor Day, September 7, 1903.—Mr. Frank M. CuyapMAN,
“ Bird Life about New York City.”
Bul
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Election Day, November 3, 1903.—Mr. Georce H. PEpprEr,
‘Life among the Navajo Indians.”’
Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1903.—Prof. ALBERT 58.
Bickmorg, ‘‘ The Development of New York City.”
Christmas, December 25, 1903.—Prof. ALBERT S. BICKMORE,
‘Germany: Berlin and Dresden.”
New Year’s, January 1, 1904.—Prof. ALBERT 5. BICKMORE,
“Niagara Falls.”’
Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12, 1904.—Dr. EpmMuND OTIS
Hovey, ‘‘Mont Pelé and the Destruction of St. Pierre.’’
Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1904.—Prof. ALBERT
S. Bickmore, ‘“‘ Holland: Amsterdam and Haarlem.”’
PUBLIC-SCHOOL COURSE.
THE lectures to the general public, provided for through co-
operation with the City Board of Education, will continue
throughout January, February and March, in accordance with
programmes which are to be obtained at the entrance.
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
‘THE programme for the meetings of the New York Academy
of Sciences in January, February and March 1s:
First Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry
Second Mondays, Section of Biology.
Third Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy.
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
All these meetings are held in the Museum and the public
is invited to attend them.
THE Linnean Society holds its regular meetings at the Museum
on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, while the
Entomological Society meets on the first and third Tuesdays.
32
29a2gstj}Uu0LT
Javdov4a HLNOS : AMOLSIH IWYNLVN JO WNASNW NVOINSANV SHL
=
AA EEE
A
GENERAL GUIDE
TO EHE
AMERICAN MUSEUM
OF
NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK
PUBLISHED BY THE MUSEUM AS SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN
MUSEUM JOURNAL VOLUME IV, NO. 1, JANUARY, 1904
Guide Leaflet No. 13
CONTENTS
PAGE
1 SPSTED Ber TS REE ea eon PO eae er a ”
Fifth Floor:
eM LLE CUS a pert raya) oct esterase nea Sool a abe aciakerore Gt a epeeie Spores anaere, cierore oa II
PP biea Try s culd kx CAITR OGTIN rosala'c aie nes ciiaiine ae asesale cela kA come CIOS. Sas II
Fourth Floor:
SUL CINey LREP EES sere iaiay sin seuns eateries tote Cie erete « rmiciei a astern meteel ene, 13
AERIS 1d VU ca AND AAS 5s caf ates oie ch oy te tines: a 20 sagas) layer ape tor © a. ale oh ave @saeeh w Svereiere ¢ 13
Moroanelralle (Miamendls) ear cers cersiecietes. terercherticr ct ciao. ctacoaeeercinig afer oe ersie 15
Wereeeel MOLLUS (Groth ee aa weiss sabes Bie eee ates Wie see earn LN SS Slee OSes 16
Loubat Hall (Mexican and Central American Archeology).......... 17
Gedlomy and Invertebrate: Paleontolog yen «cit cicm <2 «0 ois wstale at ocr. Shaise 19
Third Floor:
eee uc bcs an ese Rasy ey ede Sg pans aide aM Srabe airs “a ian ages Seri, oie kee 21
1 NSS CVS eet Sa SOR ON oe i ae Ra ee a ep 21
Vicar als Renee Seen nt arr, eee areas Sew eee esa oe Ly ea el VA yay Seat eer 24
Nort ae Avra erat Ceres til Serpe tee ese Rees etsy tec kage co aenial'o SPER Me he ee 24
Pacaike ollectioniOl Birds ai. 6 ay to tee yey atin che teas © alavesle W Sed a, dyesare wed 26
SION MEIN TICAN SATCOASOLO TV, iajayerusrajte) Sis, silo %e) ss) a0 cvs sole, say's aay eteiaiei mca ile & 26
Second Floor:
INiGrcor American: Mammals. ie. c/s ic) ss dis sleeve one a2 oe else sien s a ware Sage 29
MVEc nats ell Septem laretsrsics Stun oan © acs ersten Sep eicaale oon etetlis: a ada Ne ee atale avd 8 OG ay
IES TL Sreeeeteysge ceo sac Reeser Aes 3 MeN al OR RIS ene toeke. eM Maetan, qatiaua Seri ohaee wi 31
ocaliCollectioniof£ Mammals: 3 .ct- 2 a(eatths Bors agen cnet Sees ae aces RO 31
Ethnology and Archeology of Southwestern United States and of
IWUIES ers alae ine ORR» Ue, Pe Array Ue) eR igh WAU) SNR ibe mre OaP ay ier ie eee Us chs ay
Archzology of Central and Eastern North America................. 36
First Floor:
INerthy American HOTestryraac kin cet acts ce nen tits Sh hee oa eee ee 37
invertebrate Zoolopy: (synopticrball)ieac et sad se xk Sie etre ees 39
esp Collectionofib uildina Stones nasty. 4 eic ee ce 39
Ethnology and Archeology of Northwest Coast of North America
lecsap. North Pacther Ex peditiaae ei. 3+ a04 one cheers o witee wade eels oe 41
Wecturer ally pees ee eins teen ey ae nS een ar Ere im TSRa aE ahead Tote elite 45
Ethnology: Of INGEth Americans src,sts oo artaiee as alors cd Wohl aime acd cue einer 46
Siberian Collections (Jesup North Pacific Expedition)............... 50
HISTORICAL NOTE.
THE American Museum of Natural History dates its official
history from April 6, 1869, when the State Legislature at Albany
passed an act creating ‘‘a body corporate, by the name of ‘The
American Museum of Natural History,’ to be located in the city of
New York, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said
city a Museum and Library of Natural History; of encouraging and
developing the study of Natural Science; of advancing the general
knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end of furnishing popular
instruction and recreation.’’ This legislation was the outgrowth of
an agitation which extended over several years and which finally
culminated through the opportunity presented the preceding year
(1868) of purchasing the Elliot collection of North American birds
and the Maximilian and Verreaux collections of birds and mammals.
Among other fundamental collections of the Museum may be men-
tioned those in entomology presented by Baron R. Osten-Sacken and
Mr. Coleman T. Robinson.
The first home of the Museum was in the Arsenal building in
Central Park near Sixty-fourth Street, but the building was old and
entirely unsuited to the purposes of a great museum and steps were
taken at once looking to the erection by the city of a fireproof struc-
ture, expressly for the housing and proper exhibition of the collec-
tions. That part of Central Park known as Manhattan Square was
set apart by statute for the accommodation of the building and on
June 2, 1874, President Grant laid the corner-stone of the first section
of the great structure which is eventually to occupy the whole of the
eighteen-acre plot bounded by Central Park West, West Seventy-
seventh Street, Columbus Avenue and West Eighty-first Street.
Three years later this wing was opened to the public.
The first president of the institution was Mr. John David Wolfe.
His term of office was short, 1869-1871, being terminated by his
death only a few months after the opening of the exhibition halls
in the old Arsenal building. Mr. Wolfe was succeeded by Mr. Robert
L. Stuart, who held the presidency from 1871 to 1881, when failing
health compelled him to resign. Two events signalized this period:
the occupancy of the first section of the building in Manhattan Square,
and the purchase of the James Hall Collection of Geology and Palzon-
tology. The presidency of Mr. Morris K. Jesup began in 1881 and
7
has seen the Museum develop into an institution of more than national
importance and of world-wide influence. During the first year of his
incumbency, Mr. Jesup donated the collection of North American
Woods and established the Bulletin, a medium for the publication of
the scientific work of the institution which is now in its twentieth
volume.
Other features of the past twenty-three years have been the
establishment of the Department of Public Instruction in 1885 through
codperation with the State; the establishment of the Department of
Vertebrate Paleontology in 1891 through Professor Henry F. Osborn;
extensive explorations among the ancient ruins of Peru and South
America, begun through the generosity of the late Mr. Henry Villard;
the presentation by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan of the Tiffany gem
collections and the Bement Mineral Collection; the provision by the
Duke of Loubat of the means for the collection and acquisition of
the archeological series from Mexico and Central America, and the
inauguration of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. This period,
furthermore, has witnessed the erection by the City of the entire
imposing south facade of the building as originally projected.
E. O. Hovey,
Editor.
Note.—It is suggested that visitors take the elevator to
the top (fifth) floor and then descend from floor to floor at their
leisure. Frequent reference to the diagrams will prevent con-
fusion.
THE READING-ROOM. NO. 503
10
GENERAL GUIDE
FIFTH FLOOR
NORTH
Wj
a ||
Uj
SOUTH
This floor is largely occupied by offices, laboratories etc., in
use by the members of the administrative and scientific staff.
(In the diagram these rooms are cross-lined.)
The Shell Hall (No. 504) contains the following collections:
A general collection illustrating systematic conchology compris-
ing the combined Jay-Wolfe (1873), Haines (1895) and Collection
Crooke (1893) Collections. The D. Jackson Steward of Shells.
Collection, presented in 1890, illustrates the Lamarckian system
of classification. The material in this hall is fully labeled.
The Museum Library and Reading-Room (No. 503) 1s en-
tered from the western end of the Shell Hall. Here will be
found about 50,000 volumes on natural history sub- Library and
jects and a comprehensive selection of the current Reading
scientific journals. The Library is open to the public. Rog.
The visitor should now return through the Shell Hall and
descend to the floor below.
Il
,
906 ON ‘SIVWWYW 1ISSOS 30 T1VH
ne
eae
ni
FOURTH FLOOR
NORTH
SOUTH
The visitor now finds himself in the Marine Reptile Corridor
(No. 405) on the walls of which are displayed several remarkable
fossils. The largest of these is of a Mosasaur, a huge Fossil
marine lizard, 30 feet in length. On the easterly wall Reptiles.
are several Ichthyosaurs; one of these will be seen to be ac-
companied with young.
The Anighito meteorite, weighing more than 6,000 pounds, is
temporarily installed in this corridor.
Passing now towards the east, one enters the Hall of Fossil
Mammals (No. 406). The general arrangement of this hall is
on the “alcove plan.” The collections of the de- Boccil
partment include the famous Cope Collection. Along Mammals.
the north side are groups of fossils illustrating among other
forms the origin and development of Primitive Hoofed Mammals,
Carnivores, Mastodons, Elephants and Even-toed Hoofed Mam-
mals. Along the south side the Titanotheres, Rhinoceroses
and Horses receive special treatment. Watercolor restorations
show the supposed appearance in life of some of these re-
markable animals. The specimens are elaborately labeled and
there are special Guide Leaflets, ‘‘ The Collection of Fossil Ver-
tebrates ’’ and “ The Evolution of the Horse,’ which may be
borrowed or purchased of the attendant.
13
bOb ‘ON “ADOTVYSNIW JO 11VH NVOYOW tr
FOURTH FLOOR 15
Turning to the west and again passing through the Reptile
Corridor one enters a stately room (No. 404) devoted to minerals
and in recognition of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan’s many yjineral
gifts to the Museum named the Morgan Hall. Here Collection.
are the Bement Collection of minerals and meteorites, certain
splendid crystal groups from various donors and the cabinet’ of
the New York Mineralogical Club. There is a special guide for
this hall. Copies will be found attached to the cases and they
may be purchased of the attendant.
The specimens in the table cases have been arranged strictly
in accordance with the sixth edition of Dana’s System of Miner-
alogy. The beginning of the series is in the southeast corner of
the hall. The Sulphur specimens (Cases 1, F and J) arrest
attention on account of their beauty and their strikingly perfect
crystallization. Particularly choice are the specimens of Gold
(Case 1). The mineral is shown here in sheets like rolled metal;
in plates with crystalline edges; in matted filaments consisting
of minute octahedra; in grouped octahedra with hollow faces,
and in twisted plates attached to quartz. Copper is another
native element which occurs in fine crystals (see Case 1). Among
the sulphides (Cases 1, 2 and A) Stibnite, the sulphide of anti-
mony, Galenite, the sulphide of lead, and Sphalerite, the sulphide
of zinc, are valuable ores and at the same time beautifully
crystallized minerals. Pyrite (Cases 2 and C), the sulphide of
iron, is a very common species which is prized in every exhibi-
tion collection on account of its showy brilliant cubes, dodeca-
hedra and other crystal forms. Fluorite (Cases 3 and 4), Quartz
(Cases 4, 5, H,P), the Iron Ores (Cases 6 and 7), Calcite, Malachite
and Azurite (Cases 8, 9, 10, I, J), Beryl, including Emerald and
Aquamarine (Case 12), Tourmaline (Cases 15, 16 and K), Barite
(Cases 23, Q) and Crocoite (Case 24) are among the specialties of
the collection which should not escape the notice of the visitor.
This collection, which probably forms the best exhibition
series of mineral specimens in the country, is almost entirely the
gift of Mr. Morgan.
The Museum collection of meteorites, which is one of the
largest in the country, has been placed temporarily in
: : a Meteorites.
Cases 25 and 26. Thecollection contains many rarities.
16 FOURTH FLOOR
The loan collection of the New York Mineralogical Club, con-
taining a large proportion of the minerals which have been found
on Manhattan Island and in the immediate vicinity, occupies Case
27. Case 28 (in the northeast corner of the hall) is devoted to
several series introductory to the study of mineralogy, such
as models of crystal forms and specimens to illustrate the exact
meaning of the various descriptive terms used in the science.
To the west lies the Gem Room (No. 403). The gem collec-
tion consists of the exhibits made by the Tiffany Company at
Gems and the Universal Expositions held at Paris in the years
Gem 1889 and r900. It was given to the Museum by
Material. fr. Morgan, who frequently adds to the collection.
Especially noteworthy are the series of Corundums (Sapphires),
Topazes, Beryls, Garnets and Tourmalines. These show a
variety in color and tone that is not generally familiar to the
public. Uncut gem materials and crystals are exhibited in con-
nection with the gems. Observe the assemblage of cut and carved
semi-precious stones, such as Rhodonite, Jadeite and Jade, and
several forms of Quartz, especially Rock-crystal and Amethyst.
Several masses of Amethyst are among the most remarkable that
have been ;-und. The Morgan Collection of gold coins of the
United Stat s is here, containing a nearly complete series of the
issues from the Philadelphia mint.
The Copper Queen case exhibits a wonderful series of spect-
mens donated by the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Com-
Copper pany from their mines at Bisbee, Arizona. Note
Queen especially the large specimens of “velvet”? and ordi-
Collection. nary Malachite and Azurite, the green and blue car-
bonates of copper which for many years formed the sole ores of
the mine.
Continuing toward the west the visitor next enters the hall
of Mexican and Central American Archeology (No. 402), known
as the Loubat Hall, on account of the preponderance of material
presented to the Museum by the Duke of Loubat.
The key-diagram at the east entrance will assist the visitor
in orienting himself in regard to the hall.
FOURTH FLOOR 17
The collections have been arranged so as to illustrate the
several “cultures”’ of the region. The word “culture’’ is used
to comprise all the items which go to make up the gen- Mexican
eral life of a people or arace. Filling the eastern por- and Central
tion of the hall are casts and collections, partly from, ea
Copan, showing many features of the life of the ancient EUR
Mayas, while the west central portion of the room is occupied
by the collections from the neighborhood of the City of Mexico
which show the culture of the ancient Aztecor Nahuarace. The
casts of the so-called Calendar or Sacrificial stones are of popu-
lar interest, and the ancient codices, or pre-Columbian charts
or books, are worthy of special study. Cases illustrating the
old Tarascan, Mixtecan-Zapotecan and Costa Rican cultures are
in the northwest, southwest and southeast corners of the room
respectively. One of the most remarkable single specimens
in the room is a life-size terra cotta human figure which was
found in a cave near the city of Texcoco, Mexico, and which
seems to be the portrait statue of some great war chief of the
prehistoric Alcolhuan tribe. The specimen indicates that this
ancient people had carried the art of working in clay to a high
degree of perfection. The collection is particularly rich in ob-
jects made from jadeite, gold and copper, and in ceramics.
The major portion of the exhibits in this room consists of casts of
the carved stele and other stone monuments found throughout
the region. Among the most celebrated of these is the huge
Turtle Stone. The meaning of the emblems and inscriptions
carved upon this and other stones has been but partly determined.
Casts of two stele from the ruins of Quirigua, Guatemala,
are in Hall No. 202 (second floor), on account of their height.
Hall No. 4o1 not yet being open to the public the visitor
should retrace his steps, pass to the middle of Morgan Hall and
then enter the Hall of Geology (No. 408).
The rocks and fossils displayed in this room illustrate in
general the geology of North America and Europe and in par-
ticular the geology of New York State. The oldest rocks will
be found in the northeast corner and the succession of rocks
c0b “ON “ADOIOHHOYV NVOIYANV IVYLNSO GNV NVOIXSW 40 11VH Lvdnot gr
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FOURTH FLOOR 19
and their contained organic remains (‘‘fossils’’) may be followed
by examining the cases along the east, south and west sides
respectively. The specimens in the desk cases along — Geology and
the center of the hall correspond as nearly as practica- Invertebrate
ble to the neighboring alcove cases. The classification Paleontology.
of the collection is first according to the great sub-divisions of
geologic time, then according to geographic provinces and finally
according to the principal biologic groups represented. The
European fossils are arranged in the northwestern quarter of
the hall.
The prominent feature of the collection is the great series of
types and figured specimens which it contains. There are here
8,345 such specimens representing 2,721 species and 190 vari-
eties. Three-fourths of these are from rocks of Palaeozoic age.
The foundation of the whole exhibit is the famous James Hall
Collection of fossils and rocks from New York and correspond-
ing western strata which was purchased by the Museum in 1875.
In the northern part of the center of the room the Ward-
Coonley Collection of meteorites is temporarily installed. This
contains representatives of about 600 falls and finds, and is the
largest and most important collection in the country.
Returning through the geological and mineralogical halls to
the Reptile Corridor (No. 405) we descend to the floor below.
80r ‘ON ‘ADOIVYSNIN GNV ADOTORDN JO 11VH 0%
THIRD FLOOR
SOUTH
The corridor (No. 305) contains the Osprey Group. The
birds, nest and accessories forming this group were obtained
on Gardiner’s Island, where exists the largest colony of Ospreys
or Fish Hawks known within too miles of New York City.
Turning now to the east the visitor finds himself in Hall No.
306 which is devoted to mammals and insects. The mammals
installed in this hall are mostly Old World ungu-
lates, marsupials and edentates.
Mammals.
The cases along the top of the gallery railing are devoted to
insects. At the right (south) is part of the general collection
of Butterflies. Silkworm Moths, Cecropia and other
moths are directly in front of the entrance. One case
contains specimens illustrating the protective coloration of
insects. The next case shows protective mimicry. Among the
Beetles particular attention will be attracted by the Longhorns
or Cerambycide, the Leafhorns or Scarabeeidze (among which are
the Hercules Beetles from the West Indies, Mexico and Africa),
the Staghorns or Lucanide, and the Sawhorns or Buprestide.
The last have wing-cases which are remarkable for their green
iridescent colors.
Insects.
21
TERMITE NEST, THREE FEET HIGH. IN HALL NO. 3807
22
THIRD FLOOR 23
The next hall to the east (No. 307) is devoted entirely to
Entomology. At the entrance is a large case containing speci-
mens of Termites’ nests from Colombia, Jamaica and
the Bahamas. Owing to their resemblance in appear-
ance and in habits to ants, Termites are often incorrectly called
“White Ants.” They are found in the warmer parts of the
world and are both useful and injurious. In uninhabited dis-
tricts they feed mostly on dead wood, and are the means of
clearing the forests of decayed trees.
At the north of the entrance is the Jesup Collection of Eco-
nomic Entomology, illustrating the life history of insects injurious
to timber and shade trees. Each exhibit consists of Jesup
the leaves or other affected parts of the tree, together Collection.
with the chrysalis, the larva and the adult of the species. Each
is accompanied by a descriptive label.
This hall contains the collection of butterflies of America
north of Mexico, and from other parts of the world, which was
donated to the Museum by the late Very Rev. E. A goftman
Hoffman. It contains about 2,000 species, represented Butterflies.
by more than 5,000 specimens from Mexico, Central and South
America, India, Malay Islands, Australia, Japan, Africa and
Europe. The North American butterflies are installed in four
cases along the west side of the hall, and nearly all the species
found in this country are represented. Among the most
noteworthy species in the general series of the collection
are the Brilliant Blue Morphos, Owl-faced Butterflies (Calzgo),
the Swallowtails (Papilio) and the Citron, Orange, Lemon and
White Butterflies belonging to the family Pieride.
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VINAGIS NYALSVa ‘ATINVS SSHOMNHO V SO AWOH 3H1.
The American Museum Journal
VGE. DV; APR TE. 1904. No. 2
SHE Supplement accompanying this number of the
| JouRNAL consists of a Guide-Leaflet upon “ Birds’
Nests and Eggs,’’ which has been prepared by Mr.
Frank M. Chapman, Associate Curator of the De-
partment of Mammalogy and Ornithology. After
a general discussion of the subject, based largely upon the ma-
terial in the Museum which is exhibited in the form of groups, the
author gives a complete list of the birds known to breed within
fifty miles of New York City, with notes upon their nesting habits.
This guide-leaflet will be found of value to all students of birds
and bird-life, but it will be of especial use to persons interested
in local ornithology.
THE HOUSE-LIFE OF THE CHUKCHEE OF SIBERIA.
Tue ordinary Chukchee house consists of a large circular skin
tent, with a square inner room, also of skins, placed at the back
of the tent and opposite the entrance. In winter the inner room
forms the hving-room and 1s carefully protected against the cold.
Little furniture is used, the people sitting about on skins and
brush mats laid flat on the ground. Occasionally a table is seen,
which is simply a board raised two or three inches above the
ground.
The most important articles in a Chukchee house are the
lamps. These are usually of clay or sandstone, hollowed out
with an adze. In the center is a bridge with a cleft reaching
nearly to the bottom. The lighting-material is blubber from
sea-animals or tallow tried out from reindeer-bones. The latter
is much preferred, as it burns with a clear, soft light and with
little smoke. Wicks are made of moss, thoroughly dried, and
spread in a thin layer across the front edge of the lamp. The
23
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
fuel is placed behind the bridge, and the oil runs through the
cleft and around the edges to the base of the wick. The entire
lamp 1s placed in a tray to catch the drippings.
When fire other than that of the lamps 1s used, it is built in
the outer tent between the inner room and the door.
Cooking is almost always done by boiling in kettles. For-
merly these were of clay, but now they are made of copper or
iron obtained from traders. Hooks of wood and antler are used
to suspend the kettles over the fire.
One of the most important sets of kitchen implements is that
for crushing bones to extract marrow and oil. The same imple-
ments are used for crushing frozen meat, fish and blubber. The
set consists of stone mauls and accessories, as shown in the col-
lection.
Trays, dishes, bowls, dippers, etc., usually are made of wood.
Spoons, which were formerly unknown, now are made of wood,
horn, bone or ivory, or even of metal rudely bent into shape.
Ladles of reindeer antler are used for dipping meat from the
kettles. At present much cheap metal ware and crockery is
obtained from traders. When broken, these utensils are cleverly
mended by the natives. A Chukchee traveler always carries
with him his own teacup and saucer in a closely-fitting wooden
case.
The principal food of the people is the flesh of reindeer and
sea-animals, the latter being especially relished on account of
the fat. Blood is also much eaten, either fresh, mixed with herbs
or dried meat, or preserved in bags. It is frozen in winter and
fermented in summer. A gruel made of moss is much hked, as
well as many varieties of edible roots.
Of drinks, tea is the most important, and its use has spread
everywhere. Chinese or Japanese brick-tea is the common form
in which it is obtained from traders. Practically the only native
intoxicant is fly agaric (Agaricus muscarius), which is dried and
eaten, producing an intoxication much lke that of hashish.
Alcohol is indulged in whenever it can be obtained from merchants
or whalers.
Tobacco is smoked and chewed, whenever obtainable.
36
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The Chukchee are fond of games and contests of all sorts.
Wrestling and various ball-games are well-known amusements
of the elders. Among children the favorite toys are dolls and
tops.
Specimens of the objects used in the sports and by the children
are shown in the collection which is on exhibition in the Siberian
Hall (Hall No. ror).
THE STORER COLLECTION OF SHELLS.
———e HE Department of Conchology has received as a
FEC one iron Mir Albert ly Storer of this city the
valuable collection of shells which was made by
his father. The elder Mr. Storer through his con-
nections with shipping interests had many oppor-
tunities of obtaining shells from the sailors and captains of ships,
in the days when some handsome species were more common
than they are now. The Storer Collection comprises about 3,500
specimens. Its importance to the Museum hes in the representa-
tion of the more showy genera, such as Cyprea, Voluta, Melo,
Cymbium, Conus, Harpa, Mitra, Oliva, Strombus, Scalaria,
Murex, Turbo and Phasianella. The examples of these and
other genera, on account of their individual variation or per-
fection, will prove to be attractive additions to the exhibition
series. The marine forms greatly predominate over the land
shells, as might be expected from the manner in which the
collection was made.
Durinc February and March there was on view at the Museum
the model of the Syrian Protestant College at Beirtit, Syria, which
the Rev. D. Stuart Dodge, D.D., has had made for the exhibit of
Christian Missions at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at
St. Louis. |The model is on a scale of one-sixteenth of an inch to
the foot and gives an excellent idea of this educational institu-
tion, which is one of the most influential on the shores of the
Mediterranean.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
ORBICULAR GRANITE FROM MICHIGAN.
ea] | WO-THOUSAND pound mass of the rare kind of
FY granite known as Orbicular, or Spheroidal, Granite
was placed on exhibition in the Hall of Geology in
February. This kind of granite, which is an ig-
neous rock, results from the peculiar conditions
that obtained while the original mass was cooling from a state of
fusion. Substances of similar chemical composition tend to
separate out from such a cooling mass and to form more or less
rounded, concretionary balls, which lie in a matrix formed of the
remainder of the magma. The resulting rock looks like a con-
glomerate, or “ pudding-stone,”’ but is entirely different in charac-
ter. Conglomerate is a sedimentary rock, and the rounded masses
in it are pebbles which have been ground into shape by the action
of water, and which are now in a matrix of similar origin. Or-
bicular granites and diorites, another kind of igneous rock, have
been found in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Scandinavia, Fin-
land, Corsica, Ireland and elsewhere. The block now under con-
sideration is a boulder which was found near Charlevoix, Michigan.
Its original source is not known, but the boulder must have been
brought by the ice of the Glacial Epoch from some ledge to the
north, probably in Canada.
THOSE who have been following the announcements of dis-
coveries regarding radium and the radio-activity of elements and
minerals will examine with interest the special exhibit of about
seventy species and varieties of minerals which has been assem-
bled by the Department of Mineralogy, for the purpose of showing
the substances containing more or less of the element uranium.
All these minerals have been stated to show radio-activity or to
be responsive to radio-active substances.
NotTewortuy additions to the mineral collection are three
groups of twinned crystals of calcite from Joplin, Mo. The ma-
terial is amethystine in color, and the crystals are remarkable for
size and clearness. One crystal is fourteen inches across.
38
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL FISHES.
SHE JoHn Stronc NEwBERRY Collection of fossil
|| fishes has been added to the important series al-
ready at the Museum. This is probably the most
important assemblage of American species which
; is in existence. It is very large, its catalogue in-
cluding about six thousand entries, and it contains many of the
type specimens described and figured in Professor Newberry’s
monographs on the Paleozoic Fishes of North America and the
Triassic Fishes of New Jersey and the Connecticut Valley. The
new acquisition comes as a deposit through an agreement with
the trustees of Columbia University.
Among the collections of such fossils previously in the posses-
sion of the Museum may be mentioned the Triassic forms from
Sunderland, Mass., part of which were obtained with the James
Hall Collection and the remainder as the gift of the late Mr. Robert
L. Stuart; the specimens from the Eocene Tertiary beds at Twin
Creeks, Wyoming, the gift of the late Mr. J. M. Constable; the
Jay Terrell Collection from the Devonian rocks of Ohio, presented
by the late Mr. William E. Dodge; the extensive series obtained
with the Cope Collection and embracing forms from the Devonian
of Pennsylvania, the Permian of Texas, the Carboniferous of
Ilinois and Ohio and especially from the Green River shales
(Tertiary) of the Rocky Mountain region; and the collection of
Cretaceous fishes from Mt. Lebanon, Syria, which were obtained
for the Museum by Mr. Morris K. Jesup from the Syrian Pro-
testant College at Beirtit.
This expansion of the collection of fossil fishes has made it
necessary to provide an exhibition hall for its proper display.
Consequently the Tower Room opening from the Hall of Fossil
Reptiles (Hall No. 407) has been set aside for this section of the
Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology, and the work of prepara-
tion and installation has been begun under the direction of Pro-
fessor Bashford Dean, one of Professor Newberry’s pupils, who
has been appointed Honorary Curator of Fossil Fishes. For
purposes of ready comparison recent forms will be exhibited
39
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
beside related fossil forms, and special synoptic exhibits will illus-
trate the structure and evolution of the most important groups.
MODEL OF THE FOUR-TOED HORSE.
S| HE Department of Vertebrate Paleontology has just
SM added to its series of models of fossil mammals on
exhibition in Hall No. 406 a life-sized model of the
little Four-toed Horse (Protorohippus), the earliest
known ancestor of the modern horses, asses and
zebras. These models have been prepared under the direction
of Professor Osborn by Mr. Charles R. Knight, and have been pre-
sented to the Museum by J. Pierpont Morgan, Esq. The present
model is based upon exhaustive studies by Professor Osborn and
Mr. Gidley of the skeleton of the Four-Toed Horse and other rare
specimens belonging to the Museum. It forms a most interest-
ing and instructive addition to the exhibit in the Horse Alcove
of the Hall of Fossil Mammals. Although Protorohippus was
remarkably different from the modern Horse in the proportions of
body and limbs, in the number of toes, the length of the head, and
in many other important characteristics, the artist has contrived
to impress upon the restoration those details of character and
pose which stamp it unmistakably as an ancestral horse, and
which are warranted by the results of the study given to the
skeleton, and by the long line of intermediate stages leading up
into the: modern Horse which have been found in the successive
formations of the western Badlands.
The animal, as is indicated by the skeleton, was less than
thirteen inches high at the shoulder, or about the size of a fox-
terrier. The modern draught horse, the skeleton of which is ex-
hibited in the same alcove, is 65 inches high at the shoulder, and
its skull alone is larger than the entire body of its little four-toed
ancestor. The limbs, and especially the feet, of the model, are
much shorter in proportion and the toes, four on the fore-foot and
three on the hind-foot, are very different from those of the modern
horse. These features, considered in connection with the elon-
40
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
gated body and rounded back, suggest the dog more than any
other familiar animal. The head shows much more horse char-
acter, yet its small size in comparison with the body, the short
face, and the very forward position of the eyes are striking char-
acters in which it differs from its modern descendant.
NEWS NOTES.
THE co-operation of the Museum with the public schools of
the city has been greatly extended during the past few months.
One of the features of this co-operation has been the preparation
and distribution of “circulating collections”’ in each of several
branches of natural science. These collections represent the
most common species among (1.), Native Birds, (2.) Mollusks,
(3.) Echinoderms and Worms, (4.) Insects, (5.) Crustaceans,
(6.) Sponges and Corals and (7.) Minerals and Rocks. The
sets are accompanied by brief explanatory notes prepared by
the Curators for the assistance of the teachers of the nature-study
classes. These collections are in great demand for work among
the classes of the first four grades. They are loaned upon cer-
tain conditions which may be learned upon application to the
Director. Amore detailed account of this work may be expected
in a later issue of the JOURNAL.
In the higher grades of the schools the study of geography
and history takes the place of the nature-study work of the lower
grades, and in order to assist the teachers of these classes illus-
trated lectures have been given in the Assembly Room of the
Museum to many groups of pupils accompanied by their teachers.
For the most part these lectures, or talks, thus far have been upon
the industries of the United States. The subjects are deter-
mined by the needs of the teachers applying for the assistance
and by the lantern-slides which are available at the Museum.
Out of this work have grown requests for addresses to larger
bodies of pupils. One such request came from Public Schools
Nos. 33 and 56, with the result that on March 8, Dr. Clark Wissler,
Assistant Curator of Ethnology, lectured on the Indians of North
America to 1087 pupils from these two schools alone.
41
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
In February one of the daily newspapers of the city instituted
a prize contest among the children of the public schools for essays
upon the museums, parks and other features of the city. This
Museum joined heartily in that enterprise by means of lectures
offered to the school children who might be competing for the
prizes or who might for other reasons be interested especially in
the topics proposed. The programme of lectures was as follows:
March 4.—* The American Museum of Natural History,’ by
Mr. Harwan I. SmIru.
March 11.—‘The Parks of New York City,” by Mr. L. P.
GRATACAP.
March 18.—‘‘ What New York has Done for the Children,” by
Mr. W. H. Totman.
March 25.—“‘ Points of Historic Interest in New York City,”’
by Professor ALBERT S. BICKMORE.
So great was the interest manifested in this plan that the re-
sponse to the first invitation, which was general, brought more
than 5,700 school children to the Museum on the afternoon of
March 4, most of whom had note books with them for the purpose
of carrying away what information might be obtained. Less
than one-third of the number could be accommodated in the
lecture halls of the building, so that it was necessary to repeat
the lecture by Mr. Smith on Tuesday, March 15. Admittance to
the later lectures was by ticket, obtained on application. The
crowd that could not gain entrance to the hall on the first day
was divided into squads, which were addressed in the exhibition
halls by several members of the scientific staff of the Museum.
More than 14,000 school children, accompanied by their teachers,
attended the special lectures or studied the collections at the
Museum between January 15 and March 15 of the present year.
Tue Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology has recently
received a considerable number of important additions. These
include specimens for mounting of the Mountain Caribou and
Mountain Goat from the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia,
presented by Messrs. Madison Grant and C. A. Moore; a large
series of Mule Deer, and many small mammals, from Lower Cali-
42
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
fornia, collected for the Museum by Mr. Batty; and a fine speci-
men of the Siberian Elk, obtained by purchase, and the first
known to have been brought to this country.
Tue Andrew J. Stone Alaska Expedition of 1903 was notably
successful, and the collections arrived at the Museum in excellent
condition. They include, besides a large series of the small
mammals and birds of the Alaska and Kenai Peninsulas, twelve
specimens of the great Alaska Brown Bear, taken on the Alaska
Peninsula; a fine series of White Sheep, and a number of exception-
ally fine specimens of the Alaska Moose, from the Kenai Penin-
sula. As the Sheep and Moose were killed late in the fall, they
are in fine condition for mounting. They complete our material
for groups of these large and striking animals.
At the time of Mr. Stone’s lecture, February 25, in the Mem-
ber’s Course, an exhibit was made in Hall No. 206 of some of the
remarkable skins which he has obtained for the Museum on his
extended travels in Alaska and Arctic America. The skin of one
Kodiak Bear is eleven feet long.
Mr. Henry Hates, of Ridgewood, N. J., has presented to
the Museum, for its collection of Auduboniana, a specimen of
the common Woodchuck mounted by John J. Audubon. It
was given by Mr. Audubon to a Mrs. Dunlap, a friend and next-
door neighbor of his at Washington Heights, who in May, 1865,
gave it to Mr. Hales, in whose possession the specimen has re-
mained until the present time. The history of the specimen is
thus beyond question.
Tue background for the group of San Joaquin Valley birds
has been received. It depicts a broad flat valley, formerly a des-
ert, but now transformed by irrigation into a region of wonderful
fertility, behind which rise the mountains of the Coast Range.
The purple haze characteristic of arid districts rests upon the dis-
tant view. This pictorial background, the work of a California
artist, Mr. Charles J. Hittell, will be merged into the foreground
of the case, which will consist of a group representing the rich
43
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
bird-lite which has been developed since irrigation changed the
valley into an attractive feeding ground. The birds of the group
will comprise Stilts, Avocets, Cinnamon Teal, Coots, all breeding
or with young, Forster’s and Black Terns, Pintaif and Redhead
Ducks, Great Blue Heron and Yellow-headed and California Red-
winged Blackbirds.
THREE new bird groups have been placed in Hall No. 304,
They represent the Yellow-billed Magpie, a species which is re-
stricted to California in occurrence and which is rapidly decreas-
ing in numbers; the Sierra Sooty Grouse; and the California
Valley Quail. The last-named group, with its poppies, is an
especially characteristic bit of California bottom-land.
THE large collection of North American Diptera (Flies) which
was presented to the Museum recently by Professor William M.
Wheeler, Curator of Invertebrate Zodlogy, has been combined
with the collection formerly the property of the Museum and is
ready for use by students and other interested persons. The
whole series is in the office of the Curator of Entomology.
THE series of models representing invertebrate animals (Hall
No. 107) have been enriched by many life-like reproductions in
glass, wax and other materials of Hydroids, Nemerteans and
Planarians.
Mr. ARCHIBALD ROGERS, a member of the Board of Trustees,
has presented to the Museum an exceptionally perfect copy of
the rare and valuable work, the elephant folio, or first edition, of
Audubon’s “ Birds of the United States of America.”’ It is be-
leved that not more than 175 copies of this edition of “ Audu-
bon” are now in existence, of which about one-half are thought
to be in this country. Published in 87 parts at ten dollars each,
the work is now valued at $3,000, and although some seventy
years have elapsed since its appearance, 1t remains an authority
on the life-histories of the birds treated, while the magnitude of
the undertaking is an evidence of Audubon’s unrivaled energy
and courage.
44
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Tue Pine Snake Group, temporarily installed in Hall No. 206,
is an excellent example of the modeling and mounting of snakes
in their natural surroundings, and, furthermore, well illustrates
the protective coloration or marking of animals. Much valuable
material in the line of snakes and reptiles has been received from
the Zoological Park and is being prepared for exhibition or study.
LECTURES.
PUBLIC-SCHOOL COURSE.
Tue Tuesday and Saturday evening illustrated lectures to the
general public are provided for through co-operation with the
City Board of Education. The programme of these lectures
from January to April has been as follows:
January 5—Mr. Isaac F. Smiru, “Literary and Historic
Shrines of Boston and Vicinity.”
January 9.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “ Energy as a Source
of Heat.”
January. 12.—Mr. Austen T. Kempton, “Evangeline, Land
and Poem.”
January 106.
Poree of Heat.”
January 19.—Mr. Joun Jay Lewis, “ The History and Beauty
of Old New England.”
January 23.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “The Conduction
and Convection of Heat.”’
January 26.—Mr. Joun Hutcuison, “Niagara and the St.
Lawrence.”
January 30.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “ The Three Forms
of Matter in Relation to Heat.”’
February 2.—Mr. Witiam L. Mason, “ Up the Hudson and
Mohawk to Niagara Falls.”’
February 6.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “The Spheroidal
State.”
Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “The Expansive
45
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
February 9.—Mr. GreorcE F. GREENE, “The Development of
New York City.”’
February 13.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “ Heat in the Form
of Waves.”’
February 16.—Mr. Hersert L. Bripcman, “The Louisiana
Purchase and the St. Louis Exposition.”
February 20.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “Liquid Air, or
the Phenomena of Extreme Cold.”’
February 23.—Mr. Georce H. Payson, “The City of Wash-
ington.”’
February 27.—Prof. E. R. Von Narprorr, “ Heat as a Source
of Energy.”’
March 1.
‘Half-Moon.’”’
March 5.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton, “Life and Living
Matter.”’
March 8.—Mr. Cyrus C. Apams, “Geographic Influences in
the Development of the United States.’
March 12.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton, “The Living Organ-
’
Mr. BERNARD M. SHERIDAN, In the Wake of the
ism.
March 15.—Mr. FrepErRiIcK I. Monsen, “The Monuments of
a Prehistoric Race.”
March 19.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton, ‘“‘The- Simplest
Animals.”’
March 22.—Mr. JouNn E. STUCHELL, “ In Greater Yosemite.”
March 26.—Prof. HENry E. Crampton, “The Jointed Animals
(Worms and their Relatives).”’
March 29.—Mr. Epwarp P. CiarkgE, “ Unique Utah.
April 2.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton, “The Jointed Animals
(insects;etc.).”’
April 5.—Mr. GitBert McCuiure, “Pike’s Peak, Pass and
Plain.”’
April 9.—Prof. HENry E. Crampton, “Star-fishes and Their
Relatives; Molluscs.”’
April 12.—Dr. LEo 8. Rowe, “ The Cities of Mexico.”
April 16.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton,“ The Lower Back-
boned Animals.”
”
46
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
April 19.—Mr. LutHer F. McKinney, “The Republic of
Colombia and the Panama Canal.”
April 23.—Prof. Henry E. Crampton, “The Higher Back-
boned Animals.”
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
THE meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences in April
and May will be held in accordance with the following programme.
The papers to be delivered on each evening may be learned on
application at the Museum, or to the Secretary of the New York
Academy of Sciences, Columbia University.
April 4.—Business meeting and Section of Astronomy, Phy-
sics and Chemistry.
April 11.—Section of Biology.
April 18.—Section of Geology and Mineralogy.
April 25.—Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
May 2.—Business meeting and Section of Astronomy, Phy-
sics and Chemistry.
May 9.—Section of Biology.
May 16.—Section of Geology and Mineralogy.
May 23.—Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
All these meetings are held in the Museum and the public
is invited to attend them.
THE Linnean Society holds its regular meetings at the Museum
on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, while the
Entomological Society meets on the first and third Tuesdays.
47
INO}.
None 2:
INoswees:
No. 4.
No. 5.
No. 6.
No. 7.
No. 8.
NOE 0:
No. tro.
INOW Ite
No. 12.
No. 13.
No. 14.
Guide Leaflets.
Issued as supplements to THE AMERICAN MuSEUM JOURNAL.
For Sale at the Museum.
THE BIRD ROCK GROUP. By Frank M. CuHapman, Associate Curator
of Mammalogy and Ornithology. October, root.
THE SAGINAW VALLEY COLLECTION. By Harran I. Smiru, Assistant
Curator of Archeology. December, rgot.
THE HALL OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. By W. D. Mattuew, Ph.D.,
Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. January, 1902.
THE COLLECTION OF MINERALS. By Louis P. Gratacap, A.M., Cura-
tor of Mineralogy. February, 1902.
NORTH AMERICAN RUMINANTS. By J. A. Atten, Ph.D., Curator of
Mammalogy and Ornithology. March, 1902. Kevtsed edition, Feb., 1904.
THE ANCIENT BASKET MAKERS OF SOUTHEASTERN UTAH. By
GeorGE H. Pepper, Assistant in the Department of Anthropology.
April, 1902.
THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By
WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. May, 1902.
THE SEQUOIA. A Historical Review of Biological Science. By GEORGE
H. SHerwoop, A.M., Assistant Curator. November, 1902.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE. By W. D. Marruew,.Ph.D., Asso-
ciate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. January, 1903.
THE HAWK-MOTHS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By
WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. February, 1903.
THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE INCAS. By Cuartes W. MEap,
Assistant in Archeology. July, 1903.
THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. By W. D. MatrTHeEw,
Ph.D., Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. October, 1903.
A GENERAL GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HIS-
TORY. January, 1904.
BIRDS’ NESTS AND EGGS. By Frank M. CuHapman, Associate Curator
of Mammalogy and Ornithology. April, 1904.
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DUCK HAWK
Group, Hall No. 204
Frontispiece
Birds’ Nests and Eggs,
With an Annotated List of the Birds Known
to Breed within Fifty Mules: of
New York City.
A Guide Leaflet to the Collection
in the
American Museum of Natural History.
By
RNIN CEPAP NAN,
Associate Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology.
GUIDE LEAFLET No. 14.
SUPPLEMENT TO.THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL,
VOLUME IV, No. 2, APRIL, 1904.
New York: Published by the Museum,
|
SECOND, OR MAIN, FLOOR.
THIRD, OR GALLERY, FLOOR,
Key-plans of the Museum building, showing the location of the halls in which the
specimens and groups may be found to which references are made in this Guide Leaflet.
4
BIRDS’ NESTS AND EGGS.
WITH AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS KNOWN TO BREED
WITHIN FIFTY MILES OF NEW YORK CITY.
By Frank M. CHAPMAN,
Associate Curator, Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology.
CONTENTS.
JBAYDYS)’ INEST GPhone ESIC Ore iC ne eetne OR ny i on ean 5
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Wariations immIN es tinewllaits sean «ams assy ee 2 © one ac ae cusys eae raueee tot 8
Sacral) Biroyeys tae alsmyc lo ae iG Ges erOne? o.ORe mun Occ: Pah ER Act one RaCEN Cioran mana 8
INGtuGMeLOnsamlerNeStiInGAoite ns stasis ce cei sche ssc ee renee 9
ES GRID) Sam) GC Steet dey Prstyek Sede ea anys ts Sa (Aare UldaneTls Gated axe aparaeme ene ne a
INiravanil ose orb IDjexexs tone eisiere, Ore = (Clighclsiei ges ao Ae cto ie Heo a ns cae II
SHAS? OME Beha ied inde Gc lava ts & leeciose kShc gener Aiea Eira Pane rer LAAn 15, leat lracey II
‘AMA SV aVeM 8 Oh, gales eons ote or Geis Canes Bec io ke ane OI te RRR OAR RRS cAI 12
CGIOIS GEIB ety clas Bani Sis qrentb ale Best Le roe chin Seneca rae acne ae 12
Sha peroiph ogc seria seems ans Gea Oe dhe or ME eae ERTS 2 RIBo 12
naiivacttalleVetriaciOms ser certs ee acura ee sa eees cs begs ese eae ta = 12
PCN CHIVAUINES DY DT Gilte RAW beet soi ce rar ate aan tk Sea eee yd EI Sr aa Tae eat et Ghee. ois emer 15
BIRDS’ NESTS.
(See the groups in Halls No. 204, 208, 304, 305 and 308, and the desk-cases in
Halls No. 208 and 303.)
Nesting Season. — The first bird to nest in the region within
fifty miles of New York City is the Great Horned Owl. The eggs
of this locally rare species have been found as early as February
28,a date when the ground may be covered with snow and the nest
itself decorated with icicles. This Owl is followed early in March
by the more common Barred Owl, then come the Duck Hawk
(Group, Hall No. 204), Woodcock (Group, Hall No. 208), Screech
Owl (Group, Hall No. 208), Red-shouldered Hawk (Group, Hall
No. 204), Red-tailed Hawk and so on through the list of our 120
breeding birds until we reach the Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing
which do not begin housekeeping until the middle of June.
Year after year essentially the same order of nesting is ob-
served and the question may well be asked, What cause or causes
determine the time of a bird’s nesting season? Primarily, it may
be replied, the date when a bird breeds is governed by the char-
acter of the food of its young. Young birds, particularly those
5
6 BIRDS’ NESTS
which are born naked and are reared in the nest, are dependent on
their parents for food. Often a brood is fed several hundred
times during the day and it is therefore of the first importance
that there should be an abundant, easily accessible supply of the
proper kind of food.
Itmay be noted that the first birds to nest are Hawks and Owls,
which are predaceous, flesh-eating birds living largely on small
mice and the like, and have no difficulty in supplying the wants
of their young early in the season. In time these birds are fol-
lowed by seed-, insect- and fruit-eating species, the young of
which, therefore, are not hatched until the food they demand can
be obtained.
The time of a bird’s nesting season is also determined by its
status in its breeding range, that is, whether it be a resident or a
migratory species. Generally speaking, those species which are
with us throughout the year nest earlier than migratory birds of
similar habits. It does not always follow, however, that among
migratory birds the first species to arrive in the spring are among
the earliest to nest; and we learn, furthermore, that the time of
a bird’s nesting season is dependent on the character of its nesting-
site. In this matter of site concealment is usually of the utmost
consequence and a bird does not begin to build its nest until it can
be properly hidden. For example, Red-winged Blackbirds reach
this vicinity as early as the first of March, but they do not nest
until the first half of May. The Woodcock, on the contrary,
arrives about two weeks later, but nests more than a month earlier,
its eggs sometimes being found as early as April 1. The Wood-
cock, however, nests on the ground and a site is available as soon
as it reaches its summer home, while the Red-wing, swinging its
woven basket among cat-tails or in bushes, awaits the growth of
vegetation which will conceal it. Doubtless, also, the fact that
the young Woodcock leave the nest within an hour or two after
their birth, while young Red-wings are in the nest about twoweeks,
may be in part responsible for this difference in nesting dates.
Nesting Site. — After the formalities of courtship have won for
a bird its mate, nest-building naturally follows as soon as a proper
site has been selected. The nature of the situation in which a
bird builds its nest appears to be determined first, by the necessity
BIRDS’ NESTS 7
for concealment (see groups of Song Sparrows, Worm-eating
Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Hummingbird and others) ;
second, by habits, whether arboreal, terrestrial or aquatic (com-
pare the nests of the Red-shouldered Hawk, Kingbird, Grouse,
Bob-white, Coot and Grebe); third, by haunt, whether in wood-
land or field, marsh or seashore, etc. (compare the nesting sites
of the Catbird, Field Sparrow, Clapper-Rail and Common Tern);
fourti, by temperament, whether social or solitary (compare the
nesting habits of the Duck Hawk and Red-shouldered Hawk with
those of the Cliff or Bank Swallow as shown in the groups in Halls
No. 204 and 208).
The Nest Itselj.— Probably less than twenty, possibly not
more than ten, per cent of the eggs laid by our smaller, perching
birds bring forth chicks which reach maturity. So great, there-
fore, is the mortality among birds in the nest that it is of vital
importance for a bird to select a site and build a home in which
its eggs may be incubated and young reared with the least pos-
sible exposure to the dangers which beset birds at this season.
The character of a bird’s nest depends fundamentally on the
following factors:
First, Condition of Young at Birth. — Some birds are born
covered with feathers and can swim or run about a few hours
after leaving the shell. These are termed precocial birds.
Others are born practically naked and pass several weeks in the
nest. These are termed aliricial birds. With precocial birds
the nest is merely an incubator in which, with the aid of heat
supplied by the parent bird, the eggs are hatched. With altricial
birds the nest is not only an incubator but a cradle as well. It is
obvious, therefore, that the nests of the latter class should be far
more complete structures than those which are to shelter young
birds only while their natal costume is drying. It is also to be
remembered that precocial birds nest on the ground, an addi-
tional reason why a well-made home is not needed.
Compare the nests and young of the Yellow-headed Black-
bird and Warbling Vireo with those of the common Tern, Skim-
mer or Black Rail and one realizes the close relation existing
between birds’ nests and the condition in which the young leave
the eggs.
8 BIRDS’ NESTS
Second, Haunt. — The nature of a bird’s haunts is often
reflected in its nest through the materials employed in construc-
tion. Coots and Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Group, Hall No.
308), Red-winged Blackbirds and Marsh Wrens (Group, Hall
No. 304) use reeds and marsh grasses; field-inhabiting birds
employ the grasses and weed-stalks they find about them, and
leaves enter largely into the nest of wood-loving birds. (Exam-
ine the groups of the Field Sparrow and the Oven-bird in Hall
No. 308.)
Third, Structure of the Bird. — Although birds possessed of the
same type of nest-building tools, that is, bill and feet, may build
wholly unlike nests (compare the Cliff and Bank Swallows and
their nests, Groups in Hall No. 208) the character of the nest is in
some degree affected by the structure of the bird. Thus a soft-
billed Dove would not be expected to hew out a cavity in trees
as do the Woodpeckers, nor could the weak-footed, short-billed
Whip-poor-will cling to swaying branches and weave the Oriole’s
pendent cradle.
Fourth, Necessity for Concealment. — While concealment is
secured chiefly through the selection of a site, it is also obtained
in the building of the nest. The Oriole’s deep cradle (Group, Hall
No. 308) is a good type, and further illustrations are: furnished
by the admirably designed nests of the Oven-bird and Humming-
bird, each of which, in a wholly different way, is made to resem-
ble its immediate surroundings.
Variations in Nesting Habits. — The existing nesting habits of
birds have doubtless been developed through adaptations to
changing conditions, and it is of especial interest, therefore, to
note any variation in the character of a bird’s nest or nesting site
and to learn whether the change is a response to some new factor
in environment. Barn and Eaves Swallows, Chimney Swifts,
Phoebes, Bluebirds and Wrens, for example, have, as a result of
the invasion of their haunts by man, adopted new types of nesting
sites, while Orioles, Vireos, House Finches and other species often
find strings, rags and paper more desirable nest-material than
fibres, rootlets and bark.
Second Broods. — Several of our earlier nesting species, the
Robin, Song Sparrow and Phoebe, for example, rear second and
BIRDS’ NESTS 9
occasionally even third broods, which sometimes prolongs their
nesting season into August. Asa rule a new nest is built for the
new family.
Return to Same Nesting Site. —In. some instances, the Fish
Hawk for example (Group, Hall No. 305), it is known that the
same birds not only return to their former nesting localities, but
that they actually occupy the same nest, making additions to it
year after vear.
CLAPPER RAIL
Group, Hall No, 208
VARIATIONS IN COLOR OF BIRDS’ EGGS
Six upper figures, eggs of the Crow ; six lower figures, eggs of Purple Grackle
Desk-case, Alcove No. 3, Hall No. 208
IO
BIRDS’ EGGS.
(See desk-cases in Hall No. 208, and Local Collection, Hall No. 303.)
Number of Eggs in a “ Set” or “ Clutch.”’ — The number of eggs
comprising a full “set” or “‘clutch’’ ranges from one to as many
as twenty. No law governing this number is known. Generally
speaking birds of the same family lay approximately the same
number of eggs, but there is much variation between birds of
closely related families (e.g., Loons and Grebes), while birds of
similar nesting habits may not lay the same number of eggs (e.g.,
Quail and Meadowlark).
The number of eggs in a set, or clutch, is no indication of
the fecundity of the bird. At the time of laying the ovary con-
tains a large number of partly formed eggs, of which, normally,
only the required number will become fully developed. But if
the nest be robbed, the stolen eggs will sometimes be replaced.
The long-continued laying of our domestic fowls is an instance of
this unnatural stimulation of the ovary caused by persistent
robbing.
Size of Eggs. — The size of the egg depends primarily upon the
size of the bird. The graduated series, from an Ostrich to a Hum-
mingbird (Alcove No. 3, Hall No. 208) represents the range of
variation among the eggs of living birds. Size, however, is further
influenced by the condition of the young when hatched. —Preeco-
cial birds, for example, the domestic fowls, lay relatively larger
eggs than altricial birds, for example, Pigeons.
This will be appreciated by comparing the egg of the Crow
with that of Wallace’s Megapode, or the eggs of the Meadowlark
with those of the Bartramian Sandpiper (See desk-case, Alcove
No. 3, Hall No. 208). The young of the Crow and the Meadow-
lark are hatched naked and are reared in a well-formed nest.
The Sandpiper lays its eggs in a slight depression in the ground,
and its young run about soon after birth. The Megapode buries
its egg and leaves it to be hatched by the heat generated by
decay of the vegetable debris in which it is placed. The young
are born fully feathered and ready to fly.
EE
12 BIRDS’ EGGS
The period of incubation depends upon the size of the egg,
and varies from twelve days in the smaller Passeres to fifty-six in
the Emeu.
The Shell. — The egg-shell is composed largely of carbonate
of lime, which is deposited in layers on the surface of the egg in
the lower, or uterine, dilation of the oviduct, the process re-
quiring from twelve to twenty hours. The final layers vary
greatly in character, and may be simply a rough, chalky deposit,
easily scraped off, showing the harder layer below, as in Gannets
and Flamingoes, or thin and highly polished, as in Woodpeckers
and Tinamous. The structure of the surface, whether pitted or
smooth, depends upon the action of the walls of the uterus, from
which it receives an impression.
Colors of Eggs. — The colors of eggs are due to pigments de-
nosited by ducts while the egg is receiving its shell. One or all
the layers of the shell may be pigmented, and variation in color
may be caused by a super-imposed stratum of carbonate of lime,
producing lilac tints and ‘“‘clouded”’ or “shell”? markings. It is
supposed that eggs are colored for the purpose of rendering them
less conspicucus, and, as a rule, birds which nest in holes lay white
eggs.
Shape of Eggs. — Birds’ eggs are generally ovate in form, but
there are many variations from this shape. The conical eggs of
Snipes and Plovers are placed in the nest point downward or in-
ward, and they fit together so closely that they can easily be
covered by the comparatively small-bodied parent. The pyri-
form egg of Murres, when moved slowly, describes a circle about
its own point, and is therefore less liable to roll off the rocky cliffs
on which it is laid, than one more oval in shape would be. Con-
trary to the generally prevalent idea, the egg passes down the
oviduct and is deposited large end first.
Individual Variations. — Although, generally speaking, eggs
of the same species resemble one another, there is so great a range
of variation in both color and pattern, that it frequently is im-
possible to identify eggs unless the parent is known. This varia-
tion is due largely to the physiological condition of the bird.
Fully adult, vigorous individuals of birds which lay colored eggs,
secrete a larger amount of pigment than their younger or weaker
BIRDS’ EGGS 13
fellows, and their eggs are therefore more heavily marked. The
first eggs, as well as the earlier sets, where more than one set is
laid in a season, are apt to be more strongly pigmented than the
later.
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO
Group, Hall No. 308
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THE BIRDS KNOWN TO BREED WITHIN FIFTY MILES
OF NEW YORK CITY.
1. (6.)! Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). Local status: Chiefly
a migrant, sometimes winiering and probably breeding rarely. Eggs: 6-10,
soiled whitish. Date: No definite reeord. Group, Hall No. 208.
2. (58.) Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla). Local status: An uncommon
migrant and rare summer resident, nesting now, if at all, in a few localities on
Great South Bay. Site: Salt marshes. Eggs: 3-5, grayish olive-brown or
greenish gray, spotted, blotched and scrawled with chocolate. Date: June 8.
Group, Hall No. 208.
3. (70.) Common Tern; Sea Swallow; Mackerel Guil (Sterna hirundo).
Local status: Formerly an abundant summer resident, but since its destruction
by milliners a comparatively uncommon migrant. It is doubtful if it nests
nearer than Gardiner’s Island. Szte: Beacaes and sometimes adjoining up-
lands. Eggs: 2-3, very variable, usually olive-gray or olive-green marked with
chocolate. Date: May 8. Group, Hall No. 308.
4. (133.) Black Duck (Anas obscura). Local status: A common migrant
and winter visitant; not known to nest nearer than Gardiner’s Island. Szte:
On the ground, in undergrowth or heavy grasses, not necessarily in the imme-
diate vicinity of water. Eggs: 8-12, pale greenish or bluish white or creamy.
Date: May 5. Group, Hall No. 208.
5. (144.) Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). Local status: A not uncommon
migrant; rare and local in the summer. Szte: A hollow in a tree, usually
twenty feet or more from the ground. Eggs: 8-14, pale buffy white. Date:
May 6.
6. (190.) Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus). Local status: Not uncommon
migrant; rare summer resident. Szte: On the ground in grassy marshes.
Eggs: 3-5, pale olive-buff. Date: May tro.
7. (191.) Least Bittern (Ardetta exilis). Local status: Rather rare and
local summer resident, more common and generelly distributed during migra-
tions. Site: Reedy marshes, usually 2-4 feet above water. Eggs: 4-6, bluish
white. Date: May 31.
8. (201.) Little Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Site: Bushes or trees from 5—20 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 4-5, pale, dull blue. Date: May 6.
9. (202.) Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nvcticorax n@vtius).
Local status: Locally abundant summer resident, nesting in colonies. Stte:
In trees 20-80 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4-6, pale, dull blue. Date: May t.
10. (208.) King Rail (Rallus elegans). Local status: Rare summer resident.
Site: On the ground in grassy fresh-water marshes. Eggs: 7-12, buffy white,
heavily spotted and speckled with rufous-brown. Date: May 15.
II. (211.) Clapper Rail; Mud Hen (Rallus crepitans). Local status:
1 The numbers between parentheses refer to the Check-List of North American
Birds of the American Ornithologists Union.
~
15
16 LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
WOODCOCK
Group, Hall No. 208
Abundant summer resident. Szte: On the ground in salt, coastal marshes.
Eggs: 8-12, buffy white, speckled and spotted with rufous-brown. Date:
May 10. Group, Hall No. 208.
12. (212.) Virginia Rail (Rallus virginianus). Local status: Rather rare
and local summer resident. Szte: On the groundin marshy places. Eggs. 6-12,
pale buffy white, spotted and speckled with rufous-brown. Date: May 15.
13. (214.) Sora; Carolina Rail (Porzana carolina). Local status: Rare
summer resident on Long Island; abundant fall migrant in wild rice marshes.
Site: On ground in marshy places. Eggs: 8-15, buffy white, spotted and
speckled with rufous-brown. Date: May 20.
14. (228.) American Woodcock (Pihilohela minor). Local status: Not
uncommon summer resident. Site: On the ground in or near woods. Eggs:
4, buffy, distinctly and obscurely spotted with shades of rufous. Date: April
1. Group, Hall No. 208.
15. (26r.) Upland Plover; Bartramian Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda).
Local status: Uncommon and local summer resident. Szte: On the ground in
any field. Eggs: 4, creamy white, or buff, spotted with reddish brown or
chocolate, chiefly at the larger end. Date: June tr.
16. (263.) Spotted Sandpiper; Tip-up (Actitis macularia). Local status:
Common summer resident. Site: On the ground, usually near water. Eggs:
4, creamy buff or white, thickly spotted and speckled with chocolate, chiefly
at the larger end. Date: May 24.
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS Ly
17. (273.) Killdeer (Oxyechus voctjerus). Local status: Rare and local
summer resident. Szte: On the ground in pastures or cornfields. Eggs: 4,
buffy white, spotted and scrawled with chocolate, chiefly at the larger end.
Date: May to.
18. (289.) Bob-White (Colinus virginianus). Local status: Not uncom-
mon resident. Szte: On the ground in fields, often near fences or hedges.
Eggs: 10-18, white. Date: May 26. Group, Hall No. 208.
19. (300.) Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). Local status: Of local dis-
tribution in the more heavily wooded sections. Szte: On the ground in the
woods, often at the base of a tree. Eggs: 8-14, pale ochraceous-buff. Date:
May 1o. Group, Hall. No. 208.
20. (316.) Mourning Dove (Zenaidura macroura). Local status: Common
summer resident. Szte: Lower branches of trees, generally within ro feet of
the ground, very rarely on the ground. Eggs: 2, white. Date: April 25.
21. (331.) Marsh Hawk (Circus hudsonius). Local status: Common sum-
mer resident, of rare occurrence in winter. Szte: On the ground in marshes.
Eggs: 4-6, dull white or pale bluish white. Date: May 20.
22. (332.) Sharp-shinned Hawk (Acctpiter velox). Local status: Not
common summer resident, rare in winter. Svzte: In trees, 15-40 feet from the
ground. Fggs: 3-6, varying from bluish to pale cream buff, distinctly spotted
or heavily blotched with cinnamon or cinnamon rufous. Date: May 21.
23. (333-.) Cooper Hawk (Accipiter cooperit). Local status: Not uncom-
mon in summer, rare in winter. Szte: In trees, 25-60 feet from the ground
Eggs: 3-6, paie bluish white, sometimes speckled with brownish. Date: May 1.
24. (337.) Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis). Local status: Permanent
resident, more numerous in winter. Szte: In trees, 30-70 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 2-4, dull white, generally scantily and irregularly marked with cinnamon-
brown. Date: April 1.
25. (339.) Red-shouldered Hawk (Suteo lineatus). Local status: Com-
mon permanent resident. Szte: In trees, 30-60 feet from the ground. Eggs:
2-5, dull white, generally more or less sprinkled, spotted or blotched with cin-
namon or chocolate. Date: April 3. Group, Hall No. 204.
26. (343.) Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus). Local status: Not
common permanent resident. Szte: In trees, 25-50 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 2-4, dull white, speckled, blotched or washed with ochraceous-buff or
cinnamon brown. Date: May 5.
27. (356.) Duck Hawk (Falco peregrinus anatum). Local status: Rare
and local summer resident, more common on coasts in migrations. Site: A
cliff. Eggs: 3-4, creamy white marked with cinnamon-brown to reddish
brown. Date: March 30.
28. (360.) Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius). Local status: Not uncom-
mon in summer, rare in winter. Site: Usually a hole in a tree, from 15-60
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-7, creamy white to rufous, generally finely and
evenly marked with shades of the ground color. Date: April 25.
29. (374.) American Osprey; Fish Hawk (Pandion haliaétus carolinensts).
Local status: Locally common summer resident near the coasts. Szte: Ina
tree, 15-50 feet from the ground. Eggs: 2-4, rarely dull white, sometimes
almost solid chocolate, generally buffy white. heavily marked with chocolate,
chiefly at the larger end. Date: May 2. Group, Hall No. 205.
18 LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
30. (365.) Barn Owl (Strix pratincola). Local status: A rare summer resi-
dent. Szte: A hole in a tree, sometimes in a tower or church-steeple. Eggs:
5-9, white. Date: April 20.
31. (366.) Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsontanus). Local status: An uncom-
mon resident. Szte: Generally in an old crow’s, hawk’s or squirrel’s nest.
Eggs: 3-6, white. Date: April tr.
32. (368.) Barred Owl (Syrnium varium). Local status: Common perma-
nent resident. Szte: In a hollow tree, and sometimes in an old crow’s or hawk’s
nest. Eggs: 2-4, white. Date: March 12.
33- (373-) Sereech Owl (Aegascops asto). Local status: Common perma-
nent resident. Szte: Generally in a hollow tree. Eggs: 4-6, white. Date:
April 3. Group, Hall No. 208.
34. (375.) Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Local status: Rare
permanent resident, restricted to the less settled and heavily wooded regions.
Site: Generally an old hawk’s, squirrel’s or crow’s nest. Eggs: 2-3, white.
Date: February 28.
35. (386.) Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythrophthalmus). Local status:
Common summer resident. Szte: Generally in low trees, vines or bushes, 4-10
feet from the ground. Eggs: 2-5, dull greenish blue. Date: May 209.
36. (387.) Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). Local status:
Common summer resident. Szte: Generally in low trees, vines or bushes, 4—-ro
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-5, dull greenish blue. Date: May 30. Group,
Hall No. 308.
37- (390.) Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon). Local status: Locally common sum-
mer resident. Szte: Ina hole in a bank, about 6 feet from the entrance. Eggs:
5-8, white. Date: May 1.
38. (392.) Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus). Local status: Not
uncommon permanent resident. Szte: In a hole, generally in a dead tree.
Eggs: 4-5, white. Date: May 23.
39. (394.) Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens medianus). Local
status: Very common permanent resident. Szte: In a hole, generally in a dead
tree. Eggs: 4-6, white. Date: May 2t.
40. (406.) Red-headed Woodpecker (\Jelanerpes erythrocephalus). Local
status: Local summer resident of irregular distribution, sometimes winters,
rarely abundant in migrations. Szte: A hole, generally in a dead tree. Eggs:
4-6, white. Date: May 13.
41. (412.) Flicker; High-hole (Colaptes auratus luteus). Local status:
Common summer resident, abundant migrant, rare in winter. Site: In a
hole in a tree, frequently in orchards, about 10 feet from the ground. Eggs:
5-9, white. Date: May 7.
42. (417.) Whip-poor-will (A ntrostomus vociferus). Local status: Locally
common summer resident. Site: No nest, the eggs being laid on the bare
ground or dead leaves in the woods. Eggs: 2, dull white, with delicate, obscure,
lilac markings and a few distinct brownish gray specks. Date: June 3.
43. (420.) Nighthawk (Chordetles virginianus). Local status: Locally
common summer resident, frequently seen in the city. Site: Nest, none, the
eggs being laid on the bare ground, in open fields, or on the flat roof of a house.
Eggs: 2, dull white, evenly marked with small irregular shaped blotches or
speckling of grayish brown or brownish gray. Date: June 1.
got "ON TRH ‘dnoiy Or
S3Ssnouo d]assnuy
20 LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
44. (423.) Chimney Swift (Chetura pelagica). Local status: Abundant
summer resident, frequenting the city in numbers. Szte: The inside of a chim-
ney. The nest is attached to the side, generally about 10 feet from the top.
Eggs: 4-6, white. Date: May 25. Group, Hall No. 208.
45. (428.) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Trochilus colubris). Local
status: Common summer resident. Szte: The limb of a tree, generally 10-25
feet from the ground. Eggs: 2, white. Date: May 12. Group, Hall No. 308.
46. (444.) Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). Local status: Common summer
resident. Szte: Usually orchards or shade trees, near the end of a branch,
15-25 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-5, white, spotted with umber. Date:
May 29. Group, Hall No. 308.
47. (452.) Crested Flycatcher (Wytarchus crinitus). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Szte: {n a hollow tree, generally less than 20 feet from
the ground. Eggs: 3-6, creamy white streaked longitudinally with chocolate.
Date: June 3.
48. (456.) Phoebe (Sayornis phebe). Local status: Common summer resi-
dent. Site: A beam or rafter in an outbuilding or under a piazza or bridge,
often under a bank or shelving rock. Eggs: 4-6, white. Date: April 28.
49. (461.) Wood Pewee (Contopus virens). Local status: Common sum-
mer resident. Szte: Generally saddled on a limb 20-30 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 3-4, white, with a wreath of umber markings about the larger end.
Date: June 5s.
50. (465.) Green-crested or Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens).
Local status: Common summer resident in the Hudson Valley as far north as
Ossining; apparently rare elsewhere. Site: The lower limbs of a tree, often
of a beech, about eight feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-4, white, with a few
cinnamon spots. Date: May 14. Group, Hall No. 308.
51. (466.) Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax traillit alnorum). . Local status:
Not common migrant, rare and local summer resident, has been found nesting
only at Nyack, N. Y., and Plainfield, N. J. (Miller). Eggs: 3-4, creamy white,
with cinnamon-brown markings about the larger end. Date: June 16.
(467.) Least Flycatcher; Chebec (Empidonax minimus). Local
status: Common summer resident. Szte: Generally in a crotch of a fruit or
shade tree, 10-20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-5, white. Date: May art.
53. (477.) Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Local status: Permanent resi-
dent, abundant in fall, common in winter, less numerous in summer. S7fe:
Usually in crotch of a tree 10-20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4—6, pale olive-
green, rather thickly marked with varying shades of cinnamon-brown. Date:
May 14.
54. (488.) American Crow (Corvus americanus). Local status: Abundant
permanent resident. Szte: In trees in woods, 20 to 50 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 4-6, generally bluish green, thickly marked with shades of brown, but
sometimes light blue or even white with almost no markings. Date: April 9.
55. (490.) Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus). Local status: Common sum-
mer resident of Hudson Valley as far north as Ossining, less so on Long Island;
in winter restricted to the coast. Site: In trees in woods, generally 20-50 feet
from the ground. Eggs: 4-5, similar in color to those of preceding species, but
smaller. Date: May 17.
56. (493.) Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Local status: Introduced into
wat
No
SCREECH OWL
Group, Hall No. 208
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
to
to
Central Park in 1890 and now a common permanent resident. Szte: Holes in
buildings or in trees. Eggs: 4-6, pale bluish.
57. (494.) Bobolink; Reedbird (Dolichonyx orvzivorus). Local status:
Locally common summer resident, apparently decreasing in numbers, abundant
fall migrant in wild rice marshes. Szte: On the ground in pastures and mead-
ows. Eggs: 4-6, grayish white, with numerous spots of olive-brown or umber.
Date: May 209.
58. (495.) Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Local status: A common summer
resident and abundant migrant. Svzte: Parasitic, laying eggs in the nests of
other species. Eggs: white, evenly speckled with cinnamon-brown or umber.
Date: May 5.
59. (4098.) Red-winged Blackbird (Agelatus pheniceus). Local status:
Abundant summer resident. Szte: In grassy or bushy borders of pond, 3-6
feet from the ground, in reeds, bushes or tussock of grass. Eggs: 3—6, pale
blue, streaked, spotted or scrawled with dark, purple or black. Date: May 18.
Group, Hall No. 304.
60. (s5or.) Meadowlark (Sturnella magna). Local status: Common sum-
mer resident, rare in winter. Szte: On the ground, in pastures and meadows.
Eggs: 4-6, white, speckled with reddish brown. Date: May to.
6r. (506.) Orchard Oriole (/cterus spurius). Local status: Locally com-
mon summer resident. Szte: Generally in orchards, ro—15 feet from the ground,
near the extremity of a limb. Eggs: 3-5, bluish white, spotted, blotched and
scrawled with blackish. Date: May 30. Group, Hall No. 308.
62. (507.) Baltimore Oriole (/cterus galbula). Local status: Common sum-
mer resident. Szte: Generally in fruit or shade trees, near the extremity of a
limb, 20-49 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4-6, white, scrawled with blackish
lines and with a few spots or blotches.; Date: May 25. Group, Hall No.
308. :
63. (s5r1.) Purple Grackle; Crow Blackbird (Qutscalus quiscula). Local
status: Abundant migrant, locally common summer resident, nesting in colonies.
Site: In colonies, generally in coniferous trees, about 30 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 3-6, very variable, generally pale bluish or bluish green, spotted, blotched
or scrawled with brown or black, but sometimes evenly speckled with brownish
and rarely almost solid cinnamon- or rufous-brown. Date: April 25. Group,
Hall No. 305.
64. (517.) Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus). Local status: Rare and
loca! summer resident, common in migrations and sometimes in winter. Sze:
Generally in a coniferous tree, 5-30 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4-6, blue,
spotted about the larger end with blackish. Date: May 24.
House Sparrow; English Sparrow (Passer domesticus). Local
status: Introduced from Europe in 1851 and later dates and now an abundant
permanent resident. Site: About buildings or in trees. Eggs: 4-7, generally
white, finely and evenly marked with olive, sometimes plain white or almost
uniform olive-brown.
66. (529.) Goldfinch (Astragalinus tristts). Local status: Common per-
manent resident. Site: In a bush or tree, 5-30 feet:from the ground. Eggs:
4-6, pale bluish white. Date: June 20.
67. (s540.) Grass Finch; Vesper Sparrow (Powcetes gramineus). Local
status: Common summer resident. Site: On the ground, generally in dry,
65.
BANK SWALLOW
Group, Hall No. 208
24 LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
grassy fields. Eggs: 4-5, bluish or pinkish white, speckled and blotched with
brown. Date: May 1o.
68. (542a.) Savanna Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna). Local
status: Rare summer resident, abundant migrant. Szte: On the ground, gen-
erally in wet meadows. Eggs: 4-5, bluish white, thickly marked with reddish
brown or cinnamon. Date: May tro.
69. (s46.) Grasshopper Sparrow (Coturniculus savannarum passerinus).
Local status: Locally common summer resident. Szte: On the ground in dry
grassy fields. Eggs: 4-5, white, spotted and speckled with reddish brown.
Date: May 28.
70. (547.) Henslow Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowit). Local status:
Rare and local summer resident. Szte: On the ground, generally in wet mead-
ows. Eggs: 4-5, grayish white, thickly and evenly marked with pale reddish
brown. Date: May tro.
71. (549.) Sharp-tailed Finch (Ammodramus caudacutus). Local status:
Abundant summer resident in salt marshes. Szte- On the ground, in salt
marshes. Eggs: 3-4, whitish, finely speckled with cinnamon-brown, especially
at the larger end. Date: May 30. Group, Hall No. 308.
72. (550.) Seaside Finch (Ammodramus maritimus). Local status: Abun-
dant summer resident of salt coastal marshes. Site: On the ground, in salt
marshes. Eggs: 3-4, whitish, clouded or finely speckled with cinnamon-brown,
especially at the larger end. Date: May 30. Group, Hall No. 308.
73. (560.) Chipping Sparrow (Spzzella socialis). Local status: Abundant
summer resident. Szte: In trees or bushes, near houses or cultivated grounds,
5-20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4—5, greenish blue, with cinnamon-brown or
blackish markings, chiefly at the larger end. Date: May 14.
74. (562.) Field Sparrow (Spzzella pusilla). Local status: Abundant sum-
mer resident. Szte: In bushy fields, on the ground, or in a low shrub. Eggs:
3-5, whitish, with numerous reddish brown markings, chiefly about the larger
end. Date: May1s5. Group, Hall No. 308.
75. (581.) Song Sparrow (Melospiza cinerea melodia). Local status: Com-
mon winter, abundant summer resident. Szte: Generally on the ground, some-
times in a low bush. Eggs: 4-5, whitish, with numerous reddish brown
markings which sometimes nearly conceal the ground color. Date: April 29.
Group, Hall No. 308.
76. (584.) Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana). Local status: Abun-
dant summer resident, rare in winter. Szte: On the ground, in wet meadows
or marshes. Eggs: 4-5, resemble those of the preceding species, but the mark-
ings generally more confiuent. Date: May 15. Group, Hall No. 308.
77. (587.) Towhee; Chewink (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). Local status:
Abundant summer resident. Szte: On the ground, in or at the border of woods
or thickets. Eggs: 4-5, white, finely and evenly speckled with reddish brown,
sometimes blotched at the larger end. Date: May 14. Group, Hall No. 308.
78. (593.) Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Local status: Local perma-
nent resident. Szte: Generally in bushes in dense thickets. Eggs: 3-4, white
or bluish white, spotted or speckled with grayish or reddish brown. Date:
May 3. Group, Hall No. 208.
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS 25
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER
Group, Hall No. 308
79. (595.) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Zamelodia ludoviciana). Local status:
Common summer resident. Site: In bushes or small trees, 5-20 feet from the
ground. Eggs: 4-5, pale blue, with numerous reddish brown or olive-brown
markings. Date: May 20. Group, Hall No. 208.
80. (5098.) Indigo Bunting (Cyanospiza cyanea). Local status: Common
summer resident. Site: Generally in the crotch of a bush near the ground.
Eggs: 3-4, pale bluish white. Date: May 29. Group, Hall No. 208.
8r. (608.) Scarlet Tanager (Piranga erythromelas). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Site: Generally near the end of a horizontal limb, 7-20
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-4, pale greenish blue with numerous reddish
brown markings. Date: June 3. Group, Hall No. 304.
82. (611.) Pcrple Martin (Progne subis). Local status: Local summer
resident, apparently decreasing in numbers. Szte: In bird-boxes or gourds,
erected for the bird’s occupation. Eggs: 4-5. white, with numerous spots of
olive-brown or reddish brown. Date: May 25.
83. (612.) Cliff Swallow; Eaves Swallow (Petrochelidon lumijrovs) Local
status: Local summer resident, apparently decreasing in numbers. Site: Placed
beneath a cliff, or under the eaves of a barn or other building. Eggs: 4 5,
white, with numerous blotches of olive-brown or reddish brown. Date: May
30. Group, Hall No. 208.
26 LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
84. (613.) Barn Swallow (f/irundo erythrogaster). Local status: Abun-
dant summer resident. Szte: Generally placed on the rafter of a barn or out-
building. Eggs: 4-6, white, with numerous blotches of olive-brown or reddish
brown, and generally smaller than those of the preceding species. Date: May 8.
85. (614.) Tree Swallow (/ridoprocne bicolor). Local status: Rare and
local summer resident, abundant migrant, particularly from late July to Octo-
ber. Site: In a hollow tree or bird-box. Eggs: 4-7, white. Date: May 19.
86. (616.) Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia). Local status: Locally abun-
dant summer resident. Szte: In a hole in a sand-bank, 2-3 feet from the
entrance. Eggs: 4-6, white. Date: May 19. Group, Hall No. 208.
87. (617.) Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennts). Local
status: Local and not common summer resident. Szte: Beneath bridges, in
stone walls, or a hole in a bank. Eggs: 4-8, white. Date: May 30.
88. (619.) Cedar Waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). Local status: Common
summer resident. Szte: Generally in fruit or shade trees, 5-20 feet from the
ground. Eggs: 3-5, pale bluish gray, blotched with black or umber. Date:
June ro.
89. (624.) Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olavaceus). Local status: Abundant
summer resident. Szte: Suspended from a forked branch, 4-40 feet from the
ground. Eggs: 3-4, white, with a few blackish spots about the larger end.
Date: May 28.
go. (627.) Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus). Local status: Locally common
summer resident. Site: Suspended from a forked branch, usually in shade
trees, 8-40 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-4, white, usually with a few black-
ish or brownish spots about the larger end. Date: May 30. Group, Hall No.
308.
gt. (628.) Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Szte: Suspended from a forked branch, 1o—30 feet
from the ground. Eggs: 3-4, white, with a few specks or spots of blackish or
brownish, chiefly about the larger end. Date: May 28.
92. (631.) White-eyed Vireo (Vireo noveboracensis). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Szte: In thickets suspended from a forked branch, 1-4
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-4, white, with a few specks of blackish or
brownish at the larger end. Date: May 25. Group, Hall No 308.
93. (636.) Black and White Warbler ((/niotilta varia). Local status:
Common summer resident. Site: On the ground in the woods, generally at the
base of tree, stump or rock. Eggs: 4-5, white, spotted and speckled with cin-
namon-brown to umber, chiefly in a wreath at the larger end. Date: May 18.
Group, Hall No. 308.
94. (639.) Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorus). Local status:
Rather rare and local summer resident. Szte: On the ground, generally in dry
woods. Eggs: 4-6, white, speckled, spotted or blotched with cinnamon- or
reddish-brown. Date: May 20. Group, Hall No. 308.
95. (641.) Blue-winged Warbler (Helminthophila pinus). Local status:
Generally common summer resident; not common on Long Island. Site: On
the ground, usually in or near second growths. Eggs: 4—6, white, thinly speckled
with reddish brown. Date: May 16. Group, Hall No. 308.
96. (642.) Golden-winged Warbler (Helminthophila chrysoptera). Local
status: Rare summer resident, sometimes not uncommon August migrant.
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS 2
WORM-EATING WARBLER
Group, Hall No, 308
Site: On the ground, usually in or near second growth. Eggs: 4-5, white,
speckled, chiefly about the larger end, with brownish. Date: May 30.
97. -(648.) Parula Warbler (Compsothlypis americana usnee). Local
status: Common migrant, local summer resident, nesting only where Usnea
moss occurs. Site: In bunches of hanging Usnea moss. Eggs: 4-5, white,
with reddish brown markings, chiefly about the larger end. Date: May 22.
98. (652.) Summer Yellowbird; Yellow Warbler (Dendroica estiva)
Local status: Abundant summer resident. Site: In bushes or trees 4—20 feet
from the ground. Eggs: 4-5, bluish white, thickly marked with brownish,
with frequently a wreath about the larger end. Date: May 20. Group, Hall
No. 308.
99. (659.) Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica). Local
status: Locally common summer resident, increasing in numbers. Site: In
bushes, usually about 3 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4-5, white, with numer-
ous cinnamon- and olive-brown markings, chiefly in a wreath about the larger
end. Date: May 29.
10/6)
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS
to
100. (673.) Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor). Local status: Locally
common on Long Island, rare elsewhere. Szte: In briery bushes about 3 feet
from the ground. Eggs: 4-5, white, spotted with cinnamon- or olive-brown, |
chiefly in a wreath at the larger end. Date: May 30. Group, Hall No. 308.
ror. (674.) Oven-bird (Sezurus aurocapillus). Local status: Abundant
summer resident. Szte:-On the ground, usually in dry woods. Eggs: 4-5,
white, speckled with reddish brown. Date: May 20. Group, Hall No. 308.
102. (676.) Large-billed Water-Thrush (Sezurus motacilla). Loca! status:
Not uncommon summer resident in lower Hudson Valley and northern New ;
Jersey, rare on Long Island. Szte: In wet woods, beneath a bank, or the
upturned roots of a fallen tree. Eggs: 4-6, white, speckled or spotted with ,
reddish brown. Date: May 11.
103. (677.) Kentucky Warbler (Geothlypis formosa). Local status: Locally
common in the Hudson River Valley as far north as Ossining, rare elsewhere.
Site: In the woods, on or near the ground. Eggs: 4-5, white, speckled or
blotched with reddish brown. Date: June 1.
104. (68r.) Northern Yellow-throat (Geothlypis trichas brachidactyla).
Local status: Abundant summer resident. Site: In swampy thickets, on the
ground. FEggs: 4-5, white, thinly speckled and spotted with reddish brown,
chiefly at the larger end. Date: May 25. Group, Hall No. 308.
105. (683.) Yellow-breasted Chat (/cteria virens). Local status: Com-
mon summer resident. Szte: In thickets, 2-3 feet from the ground, in the
crotch of a bush. Eggs: 3-5, white, rather evenly speckled and spotted with
reddish brown. Date: May 23.
106. (684.) Hooded Warbler (IV2lsonia mitrata). Local status: Common
summer resident in. the lower Hudson Valley and eastward along the Sound,
apparently a rare breeder elsewhere. Site: In woods, 2—4 feet from the ground,
in the crotch of a bush or sapling. Eggs: 4-5, creamy white; thinly speckled
or spotted with reddish brown; color generally in a wreath at the larger end.
Date: May 15.
107. (687.) Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Local status: Abundant sum-
mer resident. Sze: In the crotch of a sapling, 5-20 feet from the ground.
Eggs: 4-5, bluish white, spotted and blotched, chiefly at the larger end, with
cinnamon- or olive-brown. Date: May 17. Group, Hall No. 308.
108. (704.) Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis). Local status: Abundant
summer resident. Szte: In thickets, about 3-5 feet from the ground. Eggs:
3-5, greenish blue. Date: May 17.
109. (705.) Brown Thrasher (7oxostoma rufum). Local status: Common
summer resident. Site: In thickets, in the fork of a bush, or on the ground.
Eggs: 3-6, grayish white, thickly, evenly and minutely speckled with reddish
brown. Date. May 16. Group, Hall No. 208.
110. (718.) Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). Local status: Per-
manent resident of irregular distribution, evidently increasing in numbers.
Site: In a hollow in a tree, bird-box or out-house. Eggs: 4-6, creamy white,
with numerous reddish-brown and lavender markings. Date: March 28.
1tr. (721.) House Wren (Troglodytes aédon). Local status: Common
summer resident. Site: In a hole in a tree or stump, a bird-box or crevice in
an out-building. Eggs: 6-8, vinaceous, uniform or minutely speckled, with
generally a wreath of a darker shade at the larger end. Date: May 18.
LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH
Group, Hall No. 308
LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN
Group, Hall No. 308
30
LOCAL BREEDING BIRDS ae
112. (724.) Short-billed Marsh Wren (Cistothorus stellaris). Local status:
Local summer resident, generally rare. Szte: On or near the ground in a tussock
of tallgrass. Eggs: 6-8, white, rarely with a few lavender spots. Date: June 7.
113. (725.) Long-billed Marsh Wren (Telmatodytes palustris). Local
status: Abundant summer resident. Szte: In marshes, attached to reeds,
about 4 feet from the ground. Eggs: 5-9, uniform, minutely speckled or
thickly marked with cinnamon- or olive-brown. Date: May 31. Group, Hall
No. 304.
114. (727.) White-bellied Nuthatch (Sztta carolinensis). Local status:
Common permanent resident. Szte: In a hole in a tree or stump. Eggs: 5-8,
creamy white, thickly and evenly spotted and speckled with rufous and laven-
dem Dates April 7.
I15. (731.) Tufted Titmouse (Beolophus bicolor). Local status: Not un-
common permanent resident in northern New Jersey and on Staten Island,
sometimes extending farther north. Szte: In a hole in a tree, stump or similar
situation. Eggs: 5-8, creamy white, rather coarsely and evenly marked with
reddish brown. Date: May 22.
116. (735.) Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). Local status: Common per-
manent resident, less numerous in summer. Szte: In an old stump or hollow
limb, 5-15 feet from the ground. Eggs: 5-9, white, spotted and speckled,
chiefly at the larger end, with reddish brown. Date: May to.
117. (755.) Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Local status: Abun-
dant summer resident. Szte: Generally in the woods, in a sapling about 6-8
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-5, greenish blue. Date: May 17. Group, Hall
No. 208.
118. (756.) Wilson Thrush; Veery (//ylocichla fuscescens). Local status:
Common summer resident. Szte: In low, wet woods, on or near the ground.
Eggs: 3-5, greenish blue. Date: May 20.
t19. (761.) American Robin (Merula myzgratoria). Local status: Our
most abundant summer resident, of not infrequent occurrence during winter.
Site: In a variety of situations, most frequently in fruit or shade trees, 5—30
feet from the ground. Eggs: 3-5, greenish blue. Date: April 20. Group,
Hall No. 308.
120. (766.) Bluebird (Szalza stalis). Local status: Common summer resi-
dent, not rare in winter. Szte: In a hollow tree or bird-house. Eggs: 4-6,
bluish white. Date: April ro.
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The American Museum Journal
VoL. IV. JULY, 10904. No. 3
FUNERAL URNS FROM OAXACA.
see] MONG the most interesting remains of the ceramic
art in Mexico are the funeral urns which have been
found in ancient mounds containing tombs in the
Valleys of Etla, Oaxaca and Tlacolula, in the cen-
tral part of the State of Oaxaca. They are,as a
class, perhaps the most important objects of this phase of culture
left by the old Mexican peoples.
In the exploration of the ancient tombs in the Valley of
Oaxaca by the Loubat Expeditions sent out by The American
Museum of Natural History, many of these funeral urns were
found, varying in size, shape and detail.* They were on the floor
in front of the door, on the roof, fastened into the fagade, or in
niches over the door. They seem never to have been placed in
the burial chambers. As a rule they were deposited in series of
fives and nothing was placed in them. One group is illustrated
on page 53 in place as found. Dupaix, in his description of a
funeral urn of the box-and-cover form, which he collected in 1806,
states that it was found in Zachila “‘ with jour others of similar
size, shape and substance in ploughing a piece of ground.”’
The Museum is indebted to Mrs. Robert W. De Forest for five
superb pieces which were found recently in a mound in the Valley
of Oaxaca. They form a complete series, the only one known
which is thus preserved intact. The specimens, which average
about fifteen inches in height, are illustrated on page 50.
The first figure on the left represents a seated woman dressed
in simple skirt and shirt with a heavy band around the neck.
The right hand grasps a cylindrical object, while the left hand is
‘Ge.
| Suet
DF ON
CLE
oe
* A brief account of the discoveries made at Xoxo may be found in “ Ex-
ploration of Zapotecan Tombs in Southern Mexico,”’ by Marshall H. Saville.
Amer. Anthropologist, (N. S.) Vol. I., April, 1899.
51
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
covered with a square object which may represent a musical
instrument to be beaten by the cylinder in the right hand. The
head is covered with an elaborate head-dress. Directly above
the forehead is a hieroglyph often seen on funeral urns, above
ENTRANCE OF A TOMB AT CUILAPA
which is an animal’s head, and above and behind that is what is
probably a flint knife, rising from the ray-lke background of the
head-dress.
52
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The second urn represents a standing man with a bat-like
head and tiger-like hands. The hands are held with the upright
palms outward close to the body. The body is clothed with a
loin cloth, and also has a necklace.
The third urn, shown in the center, is a man seated cross-
legged on a pedestal or platform, with incised designs on the front.
This figure has the hands on the knees. It is clothed with a short
cape around the shoulders, and a loin cloth covers a part of the
legs. A hieroglyph, hanging from a strap around the neck,
forms a breast ornament, the lower part of which rests on the
FUNERAL URNS iN A MOUND AT CUILAPA
upper part of the loin cloth. The face is partly covered by a
mask. The ears have the typical ornaments commonly seen in
funeral urns. The head-dress is quite simple, its prominent feat-
ure being tasseled ears of corn placed above the forehead.
The fourth represents a seated man with bat-like head. The
figure is clothed with a loin cloth, and has a band around the
neck. The head-dress and objects in the hands are identical
with those of the seated woman in the first urn of the series.
The fifth and last urn is a man sitting cross-legged, wearing a
loin cloth and an elaborate cape similar to one discovered in
Xoxo by the author. The mask and ear ornaments are similar
53
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
to those seen in the third urn. The hands hold just in front of
the chin a curious object, probably ceremonial in character, the
lower part of which rests on the loin cloth. The head-dress is
comparatively simple, and is backed by a line of upright feathers.
There is more variety in the urns of this series than in any
of those discovered by the Loubat Expeditions, where in one
series, shown on page 53, all five are exactly alike; in another
FUNERAL URNS IN THE FACADE OF TOMB 9, XOXO
four, and in a third series two of one form and three of another
were found. This last series, shown on page 54, was found ina
tomb at Xoxo fastened into the fagade and is the only instance
known where they were deposited in this manner.
As a class these funeral urns may be described as follows:
They generally represent a human figure sitting cross-legged,
although animal figures arenot uncommon. They are, as a rule,
hollow at the back, in the form of a cylinder. Sometimes the
54
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
arms are folded; again, the hands are placed on the breast or
hold an object in front of the chest, but more often the hands
are placed on the knees. In some instances the urns have been
FUNERAL URNS IN A NICHE IN THE FACADE OF A TOMB AT CUILAPA
mutilated at the time of deposit by knocking off one or both
hands. The head is surmounted by an elaborate head-dress, the
front of which almost invariably bears a symbol, such as the
hieroglyph for water, a tiger’s face, a bat, an owl or corn. Often
as
YOOG SHL YVAN YOOTS SH1L NO GNNOS 9s
SVM NHN IWHLNSO 3HL 4O XOG SHL ‘-S 3OVd NO 30V1d NI NMOHS 3YVv 1347 3HL NO OM1L SHL *OxOX WOH SNYN TWYSNN4
57
FUNERAL URNS FOUND BACK OF TOMB 9, XOXO
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
the face is covered by a mask with prominent teeth and tongue,
which seems to possess some of the elements of a tiger, but which
more resembles the conventionalized serpent which is a common
feature of Zapotecan sculptures and which is seen in so many of
the Mayan sculptures. There are many urns which have a flat
base, which serve as covers for boxes or chests. Some of these
boxes have symbolic faces on the corners and front, and rest on
four feet. Such urns are represented in the central figure on page
56, and by the lower figure of page 57, which is a simple box with-
out decoration.
These urns are interesting, furthermore, for the personal orna-
ments represented, including various forms of ear ornaments,
necklaces of stone and shell, beads and breast ornaments in the
form of human heads and hieroglyphs. Where no mask cov-
ers the face the teeth are in many instances filed, a custom of
decoration which prevailed extensively in Mexico and Central
America.
The garments shown are capes, shirts, skirts and loin cloths.
The figures are usually painted red. The specimen shown on
page 58 is one of the largest known and was found in 1902 by
the Loubat Expedition in front of a tomb at Cuilapa. It is two
feet, three and three-quarters inches in height, and shows traces
of four colors, namely: white, yellow, red and blue, being the
colors of the four cardinal points.
It is probable that these urns represent deities, and that they
were placed near the tombs to guide the spirits of the deceased
on their journey to the other world.
According to early accounts regarding the customs of the
Zapotecan Indians, which have been verified by the explorations
of the Loubat Expeditions, their funeral ceremonies were as fol-
lows: When an important person died, the body was placed in a
stone chamber, dressed, and with various personal ornaments and
objects belonging to the deceased. Food and drink were placed
in or near the tomb to sustain the deceased on his journey to the
other world. Once a year, for four years, his friends came to the
tomb and made fresh offerings of food and drink. At the expira-
tion of this time the flesh had decayed. Sometimes then the
3)
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
bones were gathered together and placed in niches, but some-
times they were allowed to remain on the floor. Often they
were painted red. In some instances the metate and hand stone
for grinding corn and the clay griddle for baking the tortillas or
corn-cakes were placed in the chamber, with numerous incense
burners. Then the door was sealed with a large stone, and
usually objects of value, such as personal ornaments and mosa-
ics, were thrown into the space in front of the vault. Probably
some of the offerings of food, drink and incense were intended
for the deities whose effigies (the funeral urns) were placed near
by. A mound of earth, adobe bricks and stones was raised over
the structure and sometimes covered with a dome of cement.
MarsHatL H. SAVILLE.
HE Guide-Leaflet, ‘‘ Primitive Art,’’ which accom-
panies this number of the JOURNAL, 1s a compara-
tive treatment of the collections in some of the
halls of the Department of Ethnology. The ma-
terial illustrating the decorative art of the Indians,
the Eskimo and other native tribes of North America and eastern
Asia is very full, and the Leaflet is intended for use both as a
résumé of the subject and as a general introduction to the ex-
haustive study which may be carried on by means of the collec-
tions and with the aid of the literature to which reference 1s
made in the bibliography printed at the end of the text.
THE GIANT SPIDER CRAB FROM THE JAPANESE SEAS.
The following note in regard to the size of the Giant Spider
Crab from the Japanese Seas has been communicated by Ge-
heimer Hofrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, director of the Royal Zodlogical
Museum, Dresden, who is a Life Member of the Museum.
“On page 25 antea the size of the fine specimen of the Giant
Spider Crab in the Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy (figured)
has been given at somewhat more than 12 feet between the tips
60
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
of its outstretched claws. The Dresden Museum having just
teceived a specimen from the Sagami Sea measuring only to feet
8 inches, of which Prof. I. Ijima of Tokyo, who sent it, wrote
that ‘it is about the largest that usually come up,’ I asked him
what he knew of larger specimens. He answered: ‘You may
safely consider the Dresden specimen as one of the largest that
can be obtained nowadays. Larger ones may possibly turn up,
but that would be quite exceptional.’ The specimen in the
American Museum of Natural History, therefore, appears to be
unusually large. The notice (/. c. page 26), that one in the
British Museum ‘has a spread of 18 feet,’ is unfounded, Dr. F. A.
Bather of that Museum stating on my inquiry, that their ‘largest
measures only 9g feet 4 inches from tip to tip of the two largest
legs stretched out across the carapace.’ I, therefore, do not
doubt that the record of a specimen with a spread of 22 feet
(l. c. page 26) is fabulous.
‘““ DRESDEN, April 27, 1904.
“ (Signed ) A. B. MEYER.”
Remeasurement of our specimen gives 11 feet 8 inches as
the distance from tip to tip of the outstretched legs across the
carapace, which still leaves it the largest reported yet from any
museum. It seems unlikely that the spread much exceeded 12
feet when the animal was alive.
MUSEUM NOTES.
NURING April and May a series of lectures was
given by officers of the scientific staff of the
Museum. The subjects are given in the follow-
ing list, and the lectures, which were illustrated by
means of the stereopticon and specimens from
the Museum collections, were adapted to the needs of boys and
girls ranging from ten to sixteen years of age, and were especi-
ally designed for those who spend a portion of the year at the
seashore or in the country. Many adults, members of the
61
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Museum and their friends, attended the lectures and seemed to
find as much to interest them as did the young people.
April 16.—* Ants, Bees and Wasps,”’ by Dr. W1LL1AM MorTON
WHEELER.
April 23.—‘‘Sea Beach at Ebb Tide,” by Mr. Grorce H.
SHERWOOD.
April 30.—“‘ How to Study the Reptiles,” by Dr. Hermon
C. Bumpus.
May 7.—‘Some Common Rocks and What They Mean,” by
Dr. EDMUND ous Hovey.
May 14.—‘ The American Indians and How ‘They Live; stay,
Dr. LIVINGSTON FARRAND.
May ' The Home life. of Birds,” by Mir. Wine
DutcHEr, Chairman of National Committee of Audubon So-
cieties.
Mr. FRANK M. Cuapman, Associate Curator of Mammalogy
and Ornithology, spent the months of April, May and June in
Florida and the Bahamas hunting for Paroquets, Flamingoes and
other birds and their nests to complete the Museum’s series of
several forms. Before leaving Florida for Nassau, Mr. Chapman
Ww SOE as follows:
‘Let me now report briefly on the results of my Paroquet
reconnaissance. I took the steamer at Kissimmee April 12 and
reached Bassinger, at the end of the line, the 14th. Frequent
stops and opportunities to converse with natives showed that
the Paroquet is practically extinct throughout the Kissimmee
River region. From Bassinger we rode 20 miles south to Taylor
Creek and camped on the border of the Okeechokee marsh, six
miles, by the creek, from the Lake. Mosquitoes were more nu-
merous here than I have ever before found them. We camped
here seven days and I explored the region as well as I could in
that limited time. All reports showed that Paroquets were as
common there as they are known to be anywhere, nevertheless,
I saw only two small flocks, one of four the other of eight birds.
The first passed our tent about five o’clock one morning
The second betrayed its presence by a single cry from a dente
62
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
palm ‘hammock,’ where I eventually found the birds feeding on
wild mulberries.
“No one has ever seen a Paroquet’s nest, and the lack of exact
knowledge of their breeding date and habits, in connection with
their rarity, makes it exceedingly improbable that the nest will
ever be found.”’
In May, Professor William Morton Wheeler, Curator of In-
vertebrate Zodlogy, and Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator of the
Department of Installation, joined Mr. Chapman in the Bahamas,
where they will collect marine invertebrates.
THE Department of Geology made, by invitation, an exhibit
of publications and Martinique photographs at the Exposition of
Progress in Geology which was held at the Muséum d’ Histoire
Naturelle in Paris in April.
THE meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and the
other scientific bodies which make the Museum their home were
continued to the latter part of May, when they ceased for the
summer. In October the meetings will be resumed, and an-
nouncements in regard to them will be made from week to week
in the ‘‘Weekly Science Bulletin” of the Scientific Alliance of the
city, which is to make its first appearance in the fall. The new
Bulletin, in addition to announcements of meetings, will contain
notices of new exhibits or new features of interest at this Mu-
seum and at the Botanical Garden in Bronx Park.
THe Annual Report of the President of the Museum was
issued as usual in May. As indicating the general character of
the Report, its concluding paragraph may be quoted in full:
“In conclusion I would say that the essential features that
have characterized the year 1903 have been the addition of many
new names to our list of members, the extension of our educa-
tional work through lectures and circulating collections, the en-
largement of our building, the increase in the personnel of the
scientific staff and the scientific researches and announcements
that have resulted from our exploring expeditions.”’
63
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
DuRING the spring there has been in operation at the east end
of the Entomological Hall (Hall No. 307) an exhibit which has
attracted much attention, particularly from children, who have
been visiting the Museum in great numbers. The exhibit con-
sists of an observation beehive, which is attached to the window
in such a way as to allow the busy inhabitants free ingress and
egress, without permitting them to fly about the hall. The hive
is provided with glass sides, which ordinarily are covered with
wooden panels. When it is desired to see the bees at their work
of completing the combs and filling the cells with honey, the
wooden panels may be removed. Supplementing the hive, there
is a display in a neighboring case which shows in detail all the
different stages in the natural manufacture of honey and wax,
and a series of different kinds of bees. The Bee-Moth also is
shown and a section of a comb which shows the destructive work
of this pest.
THE Museum’s collection of archaeological material from the .
Dakotas has been enriched by a series of shell rings, which has
come as a gift from A. C. Farrell of North Dakota. These rings
were used as ornaments and were found around the neck of one
of three skeletons which were exhumed together from a mound
on top of Turtle Mountain, near Dunleith, North Dakota.
Proressor H. F. OsBornN is spending the summer abroad,
chiefly in Italy and England. He will represent the Museum and
the New York Zodlogical Park at the International Zodlogical
Congress, which is to be held at Berne, Switzerland, in August,
where he is to lecture upon the recent paleeontological discoveries
in the Rocky Mountain regions which have led to new conjec-
tures as to the phylogeny of several families of mammals. At
Cambridge, England, he is to lecture upon the Evolution of the
Horse, giving the principal results of the investigations which
have been carried on by the Museum under the William C.
Whitney Fund.
ProFEssoR BASHFORD DEAN, Honorary Curator of Fishes, 1s
likewise to represent the Museum at the International Zodlogical
Congress in Berne.
64
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
PRoFEssOR FRANz Boaz went to Germany in May to spend
the summer. He will make comparative studies in ethnology
for the Museum, and will be one of the delegates of the Museum
to the Congress of Americanists which convenes at Stuttgart,
Germany, in August.
Proressor MarsHAaLL H. SAVILLE leaves for Germany in
July, and will represent the Museum at the Congress of Amer-
icanists. Professor Saville was General Secretary of the Con-
gress when it met at the Museum two years ago.
Proressors Boas and Saville have been appointed by the
Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, delegates to represent the
United States Government at the Congress of Americanists.
Mr. W. JocHELsoN has finished his study of the collections
which he made for the Museum under the Jesup North Pacific
Expedition, and has gone to Europe, where he will continue his
work upon his reports for the Museum by making comparative
studies upon the Siberian material in other collections. He and
Mr. W. Bogoras will also be present at the Congress of Ameri-
canists. Mr. Bogoras finished his studies upon the Jesup North
Pacific Expedition material at the Museum some months ago,
and went to Europe to continue his investigations for the Mu-
seum upon material in collections there for the completion of
his reports.
In the Library there has been installed the most complete
obtainable set of cards from the Concilium Bibliographicum of
Zurich, where it can be conveniently utilized by students. This
card reference catalogue comprises about 95,000 cards (titles),
covering publications in the departments of general biology,
zoology, paleeontology and microscopy.
Tue Department of Vertebrate Paleontology has three ex-
peditions in the field this season. Mr. Walter Granger is con-
tinuing the exploration of the Eocene Bad Lands in southwestern
Wyoming, where much success was had last year. The par-
ticular objects of the expedition are to obtain material needed
65
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
to mount a complete skeleton of one of the huge Uintatheres, and
to illustrate more fully early stages in the evolution of the Horse,
the Camel, the Tapir and other animals. Mr. Barnum Brown is
at work in the Cretaceous beds of South Dakota and Montana,
from which he has obtained in the past three years excellent
specimens of Carnivorous and Horned Dinosaurs, Plesiosaurs,
Mosasaurs and other extinct groups of reptiles. Last year Mr.
Brown obtained rich and varied fossil fauna of Pleistocene age
from caves and fissures in northern Arkansas. This season he
will continue these investigations in the hope of obtaining addi-
tional new material. He will also make prospecting trips, in
several promising localities, for fossil mammals and reptiles.
Mr. Albert Thomson will search in the Big Badlands of South
Dakota, especially for the little known Lower Oligocene stages
of evolution of the Horses, Tapirs, Rhinoceroses and other animals
of that epoch.
A NEw case of much interest, containing the skeletons of the
Horse and Man, has been placed in the Evolution of the Horse
Alcove in the Fossil Mammal Hall. This exhibit, the gift of the
late W. C. Whitney, is designed to illustrate the latest stage in
the development of the Horse and the close association of the
animal with man. The study represents the horse as rearing to
his full height, the man running beside him and controlling him
with a halter. It is faithfully worked out from instantaneous
photographs, and is suggestive of the breaking and training of
the Horse by Man. It likewise illustrates the resemblances and
differences in the two skeletons. Their nearly similar position
makes it easy to compare corresponding parts, and to see the
original identity in plan and structure, and the changes that have
been brought about in adaptation to different modes of motion
and habits of life in the horse and in man. The skeletons were
prepared and mounted by Mr. 8. H. Chubb, and are quite ex-
ceptional in the design and finish of the mountings as well as in
the scientific accuracy of the poses.
Tue Museum’s collection of Auduboniana was enriched in
May by the acquisition of an unpublished painting by the great
66
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G20 Wagt 168 Serak . the
Kaw Tors, 8. YF. nner
the
Dear Sirs the
Pe eAldh, Ro Meadedel> weid to! t..,4
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te “Mi copteatih Mis Beotowet tide hee boo |
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and #brne node digeotd: weed: evacdlack
atepte tha ah @2iie etidadsba® modyoy-
hore and De. ean | a
Nov. 7, 1957.
Mr. Thomas Fleming
College of Physicians and Surgeons
630 West 168 Street
New York, N. Y.
Dear Sir:
It took a little time to dig out the history of the
"Rearing Horse and Man", The skeletons were prepared and mounted
by S. H. Chubb in 190). A note in our AMERICAN MUSUEM JOURNAL
for July 1940 (Vol. h, No. 3) says:
wor
"The study represents the horse as rearing to his full
height, the man running beside him and controlling him with a
halter. It is faithfully worked out from instantaneous photographs,
and is suggestive of the breaking and training of the Horse by Man.
It likewise illustrates the resemblances and differences in the two
skeletons. Their nearly similar position makes it easy to com-
pare corresponding parts, and to see the original identity in plan
and structure, and the changes that have been brought about in
adaptation to different modes of motion and habits of life in the
horse and in man".
It is not known who the man is! I am told the skeleton
was probably purchased from Wards and remounted by Mr. Chubb.
I amsending herewith a copy of our Guide Leaflet Series
No. 36 which has a photograph of this group. Also a copy of the
Mareh 1938 issue of NATURAL HISTORY, containing a short account
of Mr. Chubb and his work (pages 22)-227).
I trust this will vive you the information you desire.
Very truly yours,
he Librarian
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
naturalist. The scene represents a pair of the White-throated
Thrush perched upon a branch of dogwood. The painting is the
gift of John R. Livermore, Esq., of this city.
THE alterations which have been in progress for several
months in the central portion of the building have been finished.
These consisted of the formation of an entrance hall to take the
place which was occupied for several years by the large lecture
hall of the Museum, and the cutting of passageways through the
basement underneath this new entrance way in such a manner
as to permit of easy communication between all parts of the
cellar, an important factor in the economical handling of the
material which is in storage, or 1s 1n use in various laboratories.
The new entrance hall is oval in shape and the walls are adorned
with busts of eighteen American men of science. From the new
entrance hall the visitor can go at will to any of the exhibition
halls on the ground floor or to the elevators. One of the im-
provements affected during these alterations has been the con-
struction of two small assembly rooms which will be utilized for
classes which come to the Museum with their teachers, and for
meetings of the various scientific societies which make the
Museum their home.
Mr. WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology, went
to North Carolina in May on a collecting trip in the Black
Mountains. This expedition was made possible by the gener-
osity of Mr. S. V. Hoffman, and is in continuation of the ento-
mological survey of the Black Mountain region which has been
carried on for some years by Mr. Beutenmtller under grants from
the late Very Reverend E. A. Hoffman, D.D., LL.D.
Tue Department of Archeology has received a collection of
more than two hundred pre-historic shell implements from the
island of Barbados. These consist of hatchets, chisels and
similar tools from all parts of the island, and mostly made from
the shell of the large conch, Strombus gigas. Such celts are
peculiar to Barbados. Only two stone implements are in the
67
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
lot, both of which are of material foreign to the island. All
stages of manufacture are shown in this interesting series of shell
implements.
THE Eighth International Geographic Congress is to be held
in this country in September. The sessions begin in Washing-
ton, September 8th, and continue in Philadelphia, New York,
Niagara Falls and Chicago, and close in St. Louis on the 2oth.
The Congress, while in New York from the 13th to the 15th of
September, will hold its sessions in the Museum.
Proressors ALBERT S. BICKMORE and Franz Boas and Dr.
E. O. Hovey have been appointed delegates to represent the
Museum at the Geographic Congress.
THE Department of Conchology has received as a gift from
F. A. Constable, Esq., a noteworthy collection of Hirase shells
from Japan. The collection was made by Mr. Hirase himself,
which is a guarantee of its uniform excellence. The specimens
comprise land, fresh-water and brackish-water forms, and rep-
resent a total of 357 species. This collection illustrates in part
the new genera and species which Dr. Pillsbry of Philadelphia
has recently founded on Japanese shells.
68
Primitive Art.
A Guide Leaflet to Collections
in the
American Museum of Natural History.
GUIDE LEAFLET No. 15.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL,
VOLUME IV, No. 3, July, rgo4.
Published by the Museum,
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CONTENTS.
PAGE
IntTRoDucTORY NOTE . : : Se ey
HALL 108 : j ; , : ' : 7
Coast Tribes of Alaska and British Columbia : : el 2G
Coast Tribes of Washington and Tribes of the Interior of
British Columbia . : : : : : ; 4] Pag
PEALE 102 : é : : : : ‘ : : Str ce
Plains Indians. ; 3 : : ; ee Bilis,
Interpretation of Arapaho Designs : : : OORT
Interpretation of Blackfoot Designs. : : es
Interpretation of Sioux Designs. : : : eae
Tribes of the Eastern Woodlands ; : ‘ ‘ 9 320
Tribes of the Amur River . : : ; : 126
EVALT202 . ; : é ; ‘ : ‘ : ie)
California Indians ; : ; ¢ : ; : aw 32
Huichol Indians of Mexico . ; : : : ; : 3a
SUMMARY . é } : 3 5 : : aes
BIBLIOGRAPHY . : ; , : ; F : ames)
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INTRODUCTORY -NOTE.
A visit to the ethnological halls of the Museum shows that the
primitive tribes whose manufactures are exhibited in the cases
delight in ornamenting all the objects which are used in ordinary
life, in festivals and in sacred ceremonials. Many of the orna-
ments may seem crude to our taste, but undoubtedly they are
applied to the objects for the same purpose as that for which we
apply decorative ornamentation.
Studies of the forms of primitive decoration, which have been
carried on by many students, demonstrate the fact that almost
everywhere decorative designs, no matter how simple their forms
may be, are significant. In many cases we find animal forms and
plant forms used for decorative purposes, and in these the sig-
nificance is at once given by the design. In other cases the
ornament consists of nothing but geometrical elements, such as
straight lines, triangles and rectangles, or curves and spirals.
These designs also are interpreted by primitive man as represent-
ing certain natural forms, and thus they express definite ideas.
It may therefore be said that most primitive decoration is
symbolic. The style of decoration by means of which ideas are
expressed differs very much in various parts of the world. The
groups of ideas that are expressed by ornamental designs are also
different, according to the characteristic culture of each tribe.
The collections to which this Leaflet refers may be found in
Halls 108, 102 and 202. Their location in the halls is marked on
the accompanying plans.
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FIRST FLOOR, HALL 108.
CASES CC DrAn De 3:
THE Coast TRIBES OF ALASKA AND British COLUMBIA.—
These tribes use throughout animal forms for purposes of decora-
tion. Some of their masks show that they have the power of
producing good realistic representations of human and animal
forms (Case C 12); but more frequently the characteristic forms
of the animal to be represented are exaggerated in size, as, for
instance, the beak of the hawk and the incisors of the beaver.
Sometimes the characteristic feature is represented alone, and
thus becomes the symbol of the animal. In Case 3 ¢ the symbols
of several animals are exhibited. The beaver, which is shown in
‘the upper right-hand corner, is characterized by two large in-
cisors, by a broad tail on which scales are indicated by means of
hachure and sometimes by the stick which it holds in its paws.
The killer-whale is symbolized by its long dorsal fin; the shark
or dog-fish, by its long, pointed snout, which is represented as
rising over its forehead, by its large mouth with depressed corners
and many teeth and by the gill-lines which appear on its cheeks.
The sculpin is symbolized by spines which rise over its mouth;
the eagle, by its crooked beak; the squid, by the suckers which
Z
8 PRIMITIVE ART
appear attached to the eyebrows or to other parts of the body;
the raven, by its long beak; the sea-monster, by its large head and
by flippers attached to its elbows.
The method of distorting the
animal form in order to make it
fit the decorative field is illus-
trated in the specimens in Case
C 13. The decorated wooden
dish in the bottom of the case
represents an animal. It is so
shown that the front of the dish
represents the animal’s head;
the sides of the dish, the sides of
the body; while the narrow end
in the rear represents the tail.
Thus it will be seen that the dish
actually represents the body of the animal hollowed out from the
back. The animal forms are placed in a similar manner on painted
hats, as on the one here illustrated ;. the whole animal being laid
around the conical hat, and, as it were, being pulled over the head.
In some cases the adaptations require material changes in the form
of the animal. When, for instance, a fish is to be painted or carved
on the front of a square box, the body of the fish must be so dis-
torted as to fill as nearly as possible the whole decorative field. This
isdoneby cutting
the fish along its
whole back from
head to tail, by
exaggerating the
size of the head,
twisting half of
the body along
each side of the
decorative field
and placing the
tail so that its
end comes just under the head. In still other cases the form of the
decorative field necessitates great reduction in the size of certain
PRIMITIVE ART 9
parts of the body. Thus we find in Case 3c a blanket-border
representing a sea-monster. The animal is shown split in two
along its back; but all its parts — except its head, the paws and
the tail — are much reduced in size. The teeth are indicated by
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a series of slanting lines under each eye, but the lower jaw has been
omitted. The body is represented by a fine line extending from
the lower outer corners of the eye, around, then along the upper
margins and finally down again. The arms and the fins, which
are believed to be attached to the elbows of the monster, are of
very small size, while the paw is painted on a very large scale.
The wide strips in the fringe represent the dorsal fins of the mon-
ster. This reduction of parts of the body has evidently given rise
to the elimination of all except the characteristic symbols, when-
ever this was necessary. We find a similar reduction of the sea-
monster design ona bracelet in Case C 13, the design of which is
shown above, and the complete omission of parts of the body
on another bracelet representing the eagle, of which only head,
talons and wings are shown.
fe) PRIMITIVE ART
Sometimes, in the effort to bring the animal form into the
decorative field, the animal is dissected and distorted in a most
astonishing manner. This is particularly true in the case of the
large ceremonial blankets woven by these tribes, in which various
parts of the animal body seem to be combined in the most irreg-
ular manner, although really each part represents a definite por-
tion of the animal represented. The blanket above Case D 3 and
the explanatory model in that section illustrate this dissection.
Similar distortions occur in paintings. For instance, in the copy
of a painting from a house-front (Case D 3), representing the killer-
WL
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whale, the central part of the figure represents the head of the
whale. The flippers are shown close to the corners of the jaws,
half of the blow-hole and half of the dorsal fin in the right and
left hand upper corners, while the tail is shown just over the head.
A collection of designs representing various animals, indicated
by their symbols and distorted so as to fit the decorative field, is
shown in the exhibition cases. The lower part of Case 3 ¢ con-
tains representations of the dog-fish or shark. Case 3 b contains
representations of a mythical sea-monster. In Case D 1 the sea-
lion, sculpin, raven, crane, frog and seal are shown. Case D 2
contains representations of the beaver, all of which are charac-
terized by the large incisors and the tail with hachure. Case D 3
contains representations of the killer-whale, characterized by
PRIMITIVE ART II
the long dorsal fin; D 4, representations of the bear, which
is characterized by its large mouth, often represented with pro-
truding tongue, and its large paws; D 5, those of the raven; D 6,
those of the thunder-bird or hawk and the eagle, the thunder-bird
being characterized by the
hooked beak, which turns
back into the mouth.
One of the peculiar char-
acteristics of the decorative §&]
art of the North Pacific RES
coast is the frequent occur- ## soso
rence of the “eye.” A form
similar to an eye, consisting
of an inner and an outer cir-
cle, is applied to indicate all
joints, evidently to signify
the socket and the head
moving in the socket. Of-
ten this eye is elaborated as a whoe face, which then makes
the interpretation of the animal form very difficult.
The essential features of the decorative art of the coast
Indians of Alaska and British Columbia may thus be charac-
terized as a representation of animal forms by means of distor-
tion and omission, the decorative
forms being somewhat realistic rep-
resentations of parts of the body,
preference being gven to those
parts which are symbolic of each
animal.
Purely geometrical decoration is
found in only one place on the
North Pacific coast. It is applied
to the basketry of the Tlingit In-
dians (Case E 3-8), who, however,
in their painting and carving, use
the style of art described before. This geometrical style
was probably developed in imitation of the porcupine -em-
12 PRIMITIVE ART
broidery of the tribes of the interior. Most of the ornamented
baskets are made of spruce-root, and are embroidered with grass.
The ornaments are generally arranged in two broad parallel
stripes of the same design, separated by a narrow band contain-
ing a different design. The motives consist of rectangular and
triangular forms. The people interpret each motive as the rep-
resentation of some realistic object. The meander pattern 1s
interpreted as waves and as objects floating in the waves, while
a similar design executed in obtuse angles is interpreted as the
butterfly. Diagonal rows of small rectangles are interpreted as a
string tied around the basket, while two such lines meeting in a
point are interpreted as flying geese; and.a diamond made up ina
similar way represents goose-tracks. Rectangles divided diago-
nally into two sections are interpreted as bear’s feet, one half re-
presenting the sole of the foot, while lines in the other indicate
the claws. In many cases, both the design and the figure cut out
of the background are given names.
It is important to note that the interpretations given to the
designs on some baskets seem to be entirely disconnected.
This suggests that the combination of the patterns has no dis-
tinct symbolic significance, but that the so-called “interpreta-
tions’ are rather pattern-names.
PRIMITIVE ART 13
CASES (O02 12ANDSe
Coast TRIBES OF WASHINGTON AND TRIBES OF THE INTERIOR
oF BritisH CotumMBIA.—The general character of the decorative
art of this region 1s entirely different from that of the coast tribes
of Alaska described before. The ornamentation applied by the
tribes of the interior to their garments and to objects of every-day
use is throughout pictographic ; that is to say, it consists of realistic
representations of natural objects, which are connected, and tell
a complete story. We notice, for instance, on a painted blanket
in Case 12 f, anumber of animal and human figures. A mountain-
range rising on the earth is shown above the fringe. On the
upper part of the blanket, two suns are shown, outside of which
are two beetles. In the center is a stag pursued by two Indians.
The figures near the right and left margins are grizzly bears. On
the lower part of the blanket two loons are shown. ‘These are
painted on a large scale because they are the guardian spirits of
the wearer. Between them there is a lake with trees around one
side, anda canoe andaman in thecenter. Trail-lines between the
loons indicate that they belong to the lake. The owner’s pipe
is painted on the lower right-hand corner. The idea expressed
by these figures is a prayer for success in hunting on mountain
and lake. The hunters and the canoe-man represent the wearer
of the blanket; the suns, beetles and loons are his guardian spirits.
14 PRIMITIVE ART
In many cases
these pictographs
become more geo-
metrical in char-
acter,so that they
may be called or-
namental designs.
Such is the case, for
instance, in a young
woman’s head - band
made of buckskin
(Case 12 d@), painted
red with designs representing lodges
in the lower part and stars in the
upper. In some cases the whole form /¥
of the object is given a symbolic in-{\ 4
terpretation. Thus we find a stone war-axe (Case \
12 €) representing the woodpecker. This design sym-
bolizes the idea that the point of the axe is to be as
powerful in piercing skulls as the beak of the wood-
pecker is in piercing the bark of trees. The point of
the axe represents the beak of the bird; the red dot
on the rounded part of the stone, its eye; the handle,
its body. In the pictographic art of this tribe, cer-
tain motives have obtained a conventional meaning.
Such is the case, for instance, with the triangles
on the girl’s head-band mentioned before, which
always represent lodges. Crosses, like those on
the drinking-tubes in Case 12 d, represent
the crossings of trails; parallel lines represent
ditches, and a circle with four equidistant rays
symbolizes the sun.
The pictographic art of these tribes tends
to assume a geometrical character particularly
on their woven bags and on their imbricated
basketry. The merging of the pictographic and
purely decorative elements may be observed
very clearly in a bag (Case 12 d), on which
QN\AM\ aut tana ty
PRIMITIVE ART 15
a series of diamonds represents isolated lakes, and lakes con-
nected by streams. Near these lakes are shown ducks flying
towards the water. Designs half pictographic and half geo-
metrical may also be seen on the baskets in Case O g, in which
the figures of birds, men and dogs may be recognized. A
striking interpretation is given for two baskets in Case O 11.
The peculiar rectangular forms which face each other are each
interpreted asa head. In one of these, the short lines on the back
represent the hair, while the two pairs in each opening represent
teeth. In the other one these attachments have entirely dis-
appeared, but the form is still interpreted as that of two heads
facing each other.
16 ~ PRIMITIVE ART
A great variety of geometrical forms may be observed in these
baskets (Case P 1-3). Almost all of them are also given realistic
interpretations. One
interesting basket, the
ts design of which con-
Ee metic seece sists of alternating
iy, large and small dia-
monds, is explained as
the beaver design, the
large central pattern
being interpreted as
the body of the beaver ;
the small diamonds
at the lower end, its
tail; the one at its upper end, the head; while the black lines
forming one side of the intermediate diamond are the fore and
hind legs of the animal.
It is fairly evident that this type of basketry has influenced
that of the coast tribes of Washington, who also have geometrical
designs on their baskets. We find among these tribes a good
many baskets imported from the interior, while their own baskets
show a different type of manufacture, but somewhat similar de-
signs. Here a meandering pattern is interpreted as ripples of
water, while a design consisting of zigzags is interpreted as
mountains and valleys (Case O 7). Attention is called to the
peculiar designs composed of hooks (Case O 8), which will be
PRIMITIVE ART 17
referred to in the description of Californian designs. These de-
signs also occur in the basketry from the interior of the State of
Washington (Case R 12).
The forms which we observe on
the coast of Washington have also in-
fluenced the type of basketry of the
tribe of Cape Flattery, a branch of the
Nootka,whose culture is similar to that of
the more northern coast tribes. Among
them we find many fine baskets with
geometrical designs (Case N 10). These
baskets are made on a foundation of
cedar-bark, while the designs are exe-
cuted in colored and bleached grass-
stems. Most of the designs resemble in character the geometric
designs of the southern coast tribes. It is, however, peculiar to
this tribe, that on some of these baskets, whaling and fishing scenes,
with canoes and their crew, are represented. Such scenes were
also used in the ornamentation of the old type of hats that were
worn in the eighteenth century, but which have gone out of use.
FIRST FLOOR, HALL 102.
CASES 17-29
Prartns Inprans.—The decorative art. of the Plains Indians
resembles in some characteristic features that of the tribes of the
interior of British Columbia, although its technique is much
better and more elaborate. Its fundamental character is picto-
graphic. In objects which serve ceremonial purposes, this char-
acter is strictly maintained. Thus we find on buffalo-hides which
are records of events, and even on blankets, pictographic repre-
sentations of battle-scenes, or of other events in the daily life
of the Indian. On garments used in ceremonial dances, paint-
ings occur which represent birds, sun and moon, and are similar
in character to those described before.
These, however, are not, strictly speaking, decorative designs.
In most cases where ornamentation is the prime object, the forms
which are utilized are arranged more or less symmetrically; and
with the development of symmetry we find that the occurrence
of realistic forms disappears. Almost all the decorative work of
the Indians of the Plains is made in bead-embroidery, and is
18
PRIMITIVE ART 19
probably an outgrowth of the embroidery in porcupine-quills
which was characteristic of the Indians before they came in
contact with the whites. The forms which are the constituent
elements of decorative motives are very simple and characteristic.
They consist throughout of regularly arranged
triangles and rectangles, mostly in brilliant and
strongly contrasting colors, and often also show-
ing sections of varying color. Sometimes the
decoration is applied to the whole surface,
sometimes only a particular part of the object
is decorated. Much of the painting is done on
rawhide, but most of the embroidery is made
on soft skin. The background of the painting
is usually rawhide, while the beaded designs are
often set off against a background of white or colored beads.
The manner of combination of triangles and rectangles is
so peculiar, that decorated objects obtained from the Plains
Indians can readily be distinguished from objects from any other
part of the world. Although there is a certain sameness among
all of them, each tribe has certain peculiarities of its own. The
most characteristic form, which occurs over and over again
in Indian decorative art, is the somewhat pointed triangle,
either divided into halves of different color, or including an-
other triangle of different color.
This form is generally explained as
the tepee, the tent of the Plains
Indians. Another form which is
almost as frequent is a very obtuse
triangle, often with a small rec-
tangle in the middle. This is in-
terpreted as a hill, while the center
figure is often called a cave in the
hill. We find also very often de-
signs consisting of parallel lines,
sometimes broken up by equidistant short patterns of different
color. These lines are generally interpreted as trails; and breaks
in the lines, as camping-sites or other interruptions of the con-
tinuous trail.
20 PRIMITIVE ART
The decorative forms applied by the Indians may, on the
whole, be described as a variety of combinations of the acute tent
triangle and of the obtuse hill triangle with rectangles and straight
lines. Circles divided into sections occur also quite frequently.
All these forms are executed in a variety of color, which is gener-
ally included in the symbolic interpretation of the design.
The detailed arrangement of the decorative motives shows
some characteristic differences among different tribes. Thus, we
find that the Arapaho (Case 20 h) like to arrange their patterns on
hide bags in a number of parallel stripes, and that in the painted
designs they put on the color in rather small areas. The Sho-
shone (Case 26 e), on the other hand, like to arrange the decora-
tive field in such a way as to lay out a wide border which cuts out
a central field. The designs in these areas are laid on in strongly
contrasting colors, without leaving any white background to
speak of. Similar differences may be observed in the bead-work
of different tribes. Some — for instance, the Comanche (Case 26
d) — prefer to arrange their patterns in delicate narrow bands;
while others, like the Sioux, utilize large beaded surfaces. These
may be observed on moccasins, bags and pouches, on which
white or colored beads form the background, from which the de-
signs are set off. It seems, however, that some beaded and
painted designs are common to all the tribes of the Great Plains.
PRIMITIVE ART
Interpretation of Arapaho Designs.—The characteristics of In-
dian interpretations will best appear from a SOS) oF a few
specimens. The square
design near the lower
edge of a small pouch
(Case 20 e) is the bear’s
foot, generally con-
ventionally represent-
ed by the Arapaho
with only three claws.
Square pink spots on
the body of the design
are the bare skin on
the sole of the foot.
The white bead-work
is sand or soil. The
curved band on the
flap is a mountain. The leather fringe at the bottom of the
pouch represents trees.
White beading on another pouch represents
sand: the green beads at the edges, on account
of their color, represent timber; two compressed
crosses, the morning star; and squares on the
flaps, rocks. The large figure near the bottom is
a mountain with a tree on its summit. Below it
are four small red and blue rectangles, which de-
note little streams flowing from a spring near the
foot of the mountain. The spring is represented
by a green square in the large triangle.
Paint-pouches amulets and head-ornaments
are often given animal forms. The pouch illus-
trated here represents a lizard. The large ornament
at about the middle of the bag represents a but-
terfly. The triangles are its wings, and the rhom-
boidal figure of bead-work projecting on the
leather surface is its body. On the flap is the
dragon-fly. The detached, somewhat triangular
figures at the sides of the dragon-fly are its wings.
22 PRIMITIVE ART
Onan Arapaho moccasin (Case 20/1), a wide stripe embroidered
on the instep represents the path on which the wearer travels.
The two pieces of the transverse stripe, which duplicate in minia-
ture a part of the main stripe, are insects
or worms which the wearer desires to avoid,
and which, for this reason, are placed by the
side of his path. The upper portion of the
large stripe is light blue, which signifies,
as in many other cases, haze... The red and
dark-blue bands that edge the white por-
tion of the stripe represent day and night.
The winged triangle, which appears twice,
signifies sunrise, and also the passage over a
mountain.
The explanation of painted designs of the Arapaho is quite
similar to that of beaded designs. Thus, on one hide bag (Case
19 c) three wide blue stripes represent rivers, both form and color
being symbolic. The red rectangles in them are islands, and
the white border around these is sand. The triangles are
bears’ feet; the red portions of the triangles represent the
bare skin of the “sole of the foot; the projections at the
base of the’ triangles are the
claws. The unpainted back-
ground represents the prairie;
the black spots in them are
coyotes. Blue lines enclosing
the whole design are buffalo-
paths; the white lines between
them, antelope-paths; the yel-
low line is an elk-path; and red
lines are deer-paths.
It will thus be seen that the
interpretation of the designs
given by the Arapaho is partly
realistic, while a part of the de-
signs express abstract ideas.
The morning star, the life symbol, the path of life and other
concepts which are intimately associated with the religious ideas
I
PRIMITIVE ART 23
of the people appear frequently in their interpretations of their
designs. Purely animal forms are, comparatively speaking, rare;
while geographical features,—such as mountains, valleys and
rivers,—tents, parts of the body and plant designs occur very
frequently.
CASE” 17 1G:
Interpretation of Blackfoot Designs —Among the Blackfoot we
find the same type of decorative designs as among the Arapaho,
triangles and diamonds being the
most important elements, but they
are purely decorative, without sym-
bolic significance. These geometric
forms, however, have pattern-
names as constituent elements of
the complex designs, for example:
the diamond -shaped figures are
known as “‘spavin”’ patterns. The
idea is, not that the design repre-
sents a ‘“‘spavin,”’ but that it resembles this affection as it
appears upon a horse’s foot.
CASES 24, 25.
Interpretation of Sioux Designs—The decorative art of the
Siouan tribes comprises geometrical designs in bead-work, and
pictographic designs in paintings. The geometric designs are both
symbolic and decorative. The pictographic designs are usually
symbolic. Most of the geometric designs are made by the women ;
the pictographic, by themen. The art of the women is especially
interesting, because we find them using simple geometrical forms
as design elements, for example: all triangular designs of a certain
size are known as “tent” patterns; all rectangular designs are
known as “bag”’ patterns; all small triangular designs are known
as “point” patterns, or “‘leaf’’ patterns; diamond-shaped de-
signs are known as “‘arrow-point”’ patterns. Complex geometri-
cal designs are built up from these simple elements, and the
names given above are the technical names for these designs.
The complex designs are best represented in the decoration of
tobacco-pouches, as illustrated in Case 25 a.
24 PRIMITIVE ART
These complex designs, taken as a whole, often have special
names, for example: a diamond-shaped figure with forked append-
ages, as shown in the adjoining illustration (Case 25a), is sometimes
spoken of as the “turtle” design, or
“turtle” pattern: So. far! fasaatae
makers of these designs are concerned,
the name “turtle” is simply the pat-
tern-name, and in no wise a represen-
tation of the animal specified. Thus
we have a series of decorative designs
in which the motive is not the repre-
sentation of objects or ideas, but
merely an appeal to the esthetic sense.
However, these design elements may
be combined into wholes which do
represent definite objects or ideas, and so become symbolic de-
signs; but the use of designs to represent any particular idea
does not conform to any rule, it depends rather upon the fancy of
the maker. A good example of
this type of design is illustrated
below (Case 25 a). Itrepresentsa
decoration seen by the maker ina
dream. It is thusa picture of the
d eam design. But there are cer-
tain geometrical forms which are
symbolic, and are looked upon as
sacred. One of the most com-
mon of these designs is that of a
spider-web, which may be seen
on the pouch shown on p. 25
(Case 25c). This design is looked
upon as too sacred to be used for
mere decorative purposes.
There is another type of de-
sign midway between the sacred
symbolic one and the merely
decorative one, such as the design of the turtle upon the dresses
of women. This is simply a U-shaped figure placed on the breast
ae
PRIMITIVE ART 25
and the back. It appears on most of the beaded dresses, and
is placed there partly for decora-
tion, and partly because it is the
prevailing style. The old women
know that in former times the de-
sign of the turtle was placed on the
dress as a kind of prayer to the
mythical turtle, who was believed
to be the guardian spirit watching
over the lives of women. Now |
they say that the design is placed
on the dress simply because “that
is the way.’ Thus we have a de-
sign which was formerly sacred and if) Wie Be ead Ca |
symbolic, but is now chiefly deco- eas ise See
rative. The painted decorations
upon the buffalo-robes of men and women are of this type also.
is In general, the decorative art of the
Sioux presents three types, or perhaps
stages, in the development of primitive art,
—a purely decorative type, a purely sym-
bolic type and an intermediate conven-
tional type. The men employ the same
simple and combined geometrical designs
as are used by the women, but for the pre-
sentation of military ideas. Thus, the moc-
casin (Case 24 g) shown here represents a
battle in which the wearer participated.
The triangular designs around the sole (the
tent pattern) represent hills; the small rec-
tangles (the box pattern), enemies standing
between the hills; the small marks upon
each hill design, bullets striking. The in-
step of the moccasin is colored red to repre-
sent blood, and the triangular design within
the red area represents an arrow. The idea
to be conveyed is, that the owner engaged in a battle in which
the enemy took refuge in the hills, and that blood was shed.
26 PRIMITIVE ART
Thus we have among the same people identical geometrical de-
signs, with identical technical names, used to convey different
ideas. The military symbolism of the men differs from the sym-
bolism of the women in one respect, namely: that any one familar
with the mode of presentation can interpret the designs used by
men with considerable exactness.
In a general way the interesting characteristic of Sioux art
is the existence of two schools,— that of the women and that of
the men,— each of which makes use of the same design ele-
ments, but to different ends.
OSES) 285.20,
TRIBES OF THE EASTERN WOOoDLANDS.—Very little of the
ancient art of the Indians of the eastern woodland area remains.
Under the influence of modern patterns, the old style of porcu-
pine-quill and bead-work has practically disappeared, and plant-
te ee
SONNE Bee ORR
«9 NNW
ee aka
patterns have taken its place. Only on woven pouches and mats
do some of the old patterns persist. These designs are partly of
geometrical character; partly they consist of very stiff conven-
tional reproductions of animal and human forms (Case 29 a).
The favorite design seems to be that of a bird with spread wings,
PRIMITIVE ART 27
the shape of which has also influenced the manner of repre-
senting the human form (Case 28 e). The geometric designs
(Cases 28 e, 31) are mostly arranged in bands, and consist of
triangles, zigzags and diamonds, which show only slight rela-
tion to those of the Indians of the Plains, while they remind
us somewhat of the designs of the Indians of the State of
Washington. We may perhaps recognize in some of the tri-
angles with points under their bases the tent design so common
i i iN i : Bee
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i i i
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: a ml i von | + Gor SES
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among the Plains Indians. The whole make-up, however, of the
geometric forms is quite distinctive. If there ever has been any
interpretation of these geometric designs, it seems to have been
forgotten, and the designs are considered purely as ornamental,
not as symbolic. The only striking exception is the same spider-
web design that we find among the Sioux Indians, and which
occurs here practically in the same form. (Case 28 /1.)
28 PRIMITIVE ART
Painted decorations are much rarer among these tribes than
among those of the Great Plains. In place of the hide bags,
which are so common among all the Prairie tribes, hide trunks
are used which are painted with patterns similar to those de-
scribed before. Probably these hide trunks are modern forms of
ancient bark boxes.
It is interesting to note that in the modern woven bead-
work of these tribes the realistic flower designs which have been
in vogue for a considerable period tend to assume geometrical
shapes. The series of beaded belts exhibited in Case 28 /: brings
out clearly the fact that the leaves and fruits tend to assume
the forms of diamonds, while the flowers tend to develop in the
direction of crosses. The two beaded belts, illustrated above,
show types of conventionalization of modern flower designs.
PRIMITIVE ART 29
CASES “14 rG:
TRIBES OF THE AMUR RIvER.—The Gold, who inhabit the
Upper Amur River, belong to Tungus stock, while the Gilyak
of the Lower Amur River and of the Island of Saghalin form an
independent group. The decorative art of these two tribes is
almost identical. The fundamental forms are geometrical designs,
consisting almost exclusively of
spirals and of other curves,— a
style of decoration widely spread
in other parts of the Old World.
In this particular region its oc-
currence is undoubtedly due to
the influence of Chinese decora-
tive art. The spiral ornaments
are used in carving, in designs cut out of birch-bark and in em-
broidery. They are also applied in etched and inlaid ornaments
on iron spears (Case 16 a). ‘The most characteristic feature in
the elaboration of this
&- mot ve is its combination
with bird and fish de-
. signs. The cock particu-
larly is a favorite pattern,
and appears in combina-
tion with the spiral. Ona
fish-skin garment of the
Gold may be seen a series
of designs, at the top of
which is shown a crowing cock; other cocks are placed at the
end of a horizontal band. On a birch-bark basket (Case 16 e)
the same combination of designs appears very clearly, the curved
ornament enclosing quite a number of cocks and fishes. Other
30 PRIMITIVE ART
animals are not found as often as the two here named; but in a
number of patterns exhibited in the turning-frame on the north
wall of the hall, combinations of a variety of animals may be
found. In one of these, illustrated below, are represented four
musk-deer (a), two frogs (c) and a number of fish (0).
While many of these forms are fairly realistic, in other cases
the animal form is so highly conventionalized that it can be recog-
nized only because it is known to the natives as a symbol of the
particular animal. Thus the spirals in a birch-bark basket
(Case 16 e) are explained as two cocks which stand back to back;
the point marked a, in the illustration beyond, being the beak of
PRIMITIVE ART 31
the cock, while the oval (c) is an object which it is supposed
to hold. This object is found in a great many representations of
the cock, and may be said to be one of its prime characteristics.
The tail of the cock has the form of a fish, and is shown at the
point b. The center of the second set of spirals (g) has the form
of a fish, which is always symbolized by a small circle attached to
an elongated body.
It is very peculiar
that practically all the
spirals and curved de-
signs of these tribes
have been developed
into the cock motive,
because the cock was
not known to the
tmbess OF the Amit
River until quite re-
cently, The use of
this motive, and par-
ticularly also the fre-
quent occurrence of
the round object which
is in its beak, indicates
that this motive is of foreign origin. It is evidently the same
as the cock in China which holds the sun in its beak.
It is interesting to note that, among this tribe also, the form
and ornamentation of objects used in religious ceremonials are
much more realistic than purely decorative motives. Thus we
find the coat of a shaman (Case 14 c), on which is painted a
mythological representation of the world-tree, representing the
conception of the world that is current among the tribe.
Going back through Hall 102, the visitor passes the Eskimo
collections, and attention is called to the fact that very few 1im-
plements and objects made by the Eskimo are decorated, except
their clothing, which bears designs of dark and white caribou-
skin.
SECOND FLOOR, HALL 202.
On the second floor are found collections from California and
Mexico which illustrate some of the characteristics of the decora-
tive art of these regions.
CASES! 1-6)
CALIFORNIA INpIANS.—The decorative art of the California
Indians, more particularly that of the Indians of southern Cal1-
fornia, is almost entirely confined to basketry. Their baskets
are mostly round, rather rarely oblong, many of them quite shal-
low: consequently we find a tendency to arrange the decorative
designs in radial groups or in spirals. The designs themselves
are rarely realistic, but consist always of more or less intricate
geometrical designs. The similarity of these designs on various
baskets is quite striking. Their interpretations, however, differ
considerably. A collection illustrating the similarity of design
and the diversity of their meaning has been assembled in Case
2 a, b. There we find on one basket a design representing a
squirrel’s foot. A similar design on another basket represents
mountains and pine-cones; on still another, the bear’s foot; and
on a fourth the owl’s claw.
32
PRIMITIVE ART 33
In the same case are shown a number of baskets illustrating
one of the most common ornamental motives found in California,
the so-called “‘ quail-tip,’’ a design consisting of a slender line with
asmall heavy hook standing off from the end at right angles. This
design was described before as found on baskets from the State of
¥
me “
wn
st
» 2
Washington (Case R 12 in Hall 108), and it seems probable that
it has spread along the Pacific coast from tribe to tribe. This
34 PRIMITIVE ART
seems the more likely, since it is found in entirely different weaves,
according to the district in which it occurs. While it is found on
many Californian weaves, tt is applied in the State of Washington
on the peculiar imbricated basketry the characteristic designs
of which are illustrated by baskets of the Thompson and Lillooet
Indians (see p. 15 and Cases O and P, Hall 108).
The interpretations given to designs by the Californian
Indians vary greatly. The designs often represent plants, while
some represent fish-teeth, snakes, worms, millepeds, butterflies,
etc. Designs symbolic of larger animals are absent. One of the
most frequently occurring designs on Californian, and perhaps on
all basketry, is the feather and arrow-point design (Cases 2, 3).
Realistic designs are found only in the extreme southern part of
California and in the adjoining portions of Arizona.
In northern California the interpretation of designs seems
to be almost absent. The patterns of this district are called
“striped,” ‘‘zigzag,’’ etc., terms which are evidently names, not
interpretations (Case 6 f).
CASE 15.
Huicuot Inpians, Mexico.— The decorative art of the
modern tribes of Mexico has evidently been much influenced by
Spanish art. The most elaborate decorative work of the present
period is done in textiles, particularly in weaving and in embroi-
dery, while modern pottery designs are of a crude character. The
designs found in various regions of Mexico and of Central America,
and also those of South America, consist to a great extent of
geometrical elements, but also of somewhat angular representa-
tions of birds, mammals and men, all more or less conventional-
ized. The color combinations differ also considerably in various
regions.
One of the designs found most frequently on textile work is a
series of triangles which are similar in their arrangement to the
arrow design on Californian basketry. This type of design is
found on the belts of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and
Arizona as well as in Mexico. A comparison with ancient Mexican
designs, in so far as they have been preserved on ancient Mex1-
PRIMITIVE ART 35
can codices, or as they may be recognized on the garments of
ancient sculptured figures, shows that these types of weaving did
not exist before the advent of the Spaniards and the introduc-
tion of European fabrics.
For this reason it is interesting to note that by some tribes
the designs are at present given interpretations quite analogous to
those found among the Prairie Indians and among other primitive
tribes. A collection of belts, ribbons and pouches from the Huichol
%,
S
in“
=
0G
@
if
Pa
7.
tribe of western Mexico (Case 15), illustrates this point. The zig-
zag triangle, described by the Californian Indians as the arrow
design, is called here the ‘‘ double water-gourd”’ design. The In-
dians compare the hourglass figure, which originates from a
combination of two triangles, to the double gourd; which has
two thick ends and a constriction in the middle. The X-
shaped form, also quite common, is interpreted as a brush made
of loose fibres tied together in the middle or at one end. A series
of scrolls is an element which occurs very frequently in their weav-
36 PRIMITIVE ART
ing. It is called the “bridle,’’ because Mexican bridles have
on either side of the bit a figure resembling one of these scrolls.
It is also inter-
preted as the
Za ( linkin anon
saree reUTeaATHTUNOTTUVAUVUOVOUAMUTLLOGEOIETUELRTEEE MOTT hands. The
mAAQOEUEONUSEGANONUCEEQUOOEEQOCOuOM Lien NunnAeuuaeEpeaueannennataatieg tat
decorative ele-
ment shown in the figure below is interpreted as the steel for
striking fire. It is considered as an ornamental elaboration of
ee. Oe ee
the form of steel used in this region. The arbitrary character of
the interpretations given by these people may be seen in the
elaboration of this design, which is sometimes developed into a
continuous band, and is then explained as a vine and flowers. A
very frequent element of decoration is shown below, and is inter-
preted as roots of plants. The transition from these forms to
more realistic ones is very gradual. The simple geometrical
forms are combined into plant designs, and, in their most symmet-
rical arrangement, to flower de-
signs. To these are added some-
times realistic representations of
double-headed birds, of mountain-
lions and of other animals. Long
narrow ribbons covered with de-
signs of this character are generally described as serpents, the
design indicating the marks on the serpent’s back.
PRIMITIVE ART 37
A comparison of the decorative designs exhibited in Case 15
with the designs on ceremonial objects which will be found in
Cases 13 and 14, shows a marked difference between the two styles.
The execution of the purely ornamental objects is careful,— the
designs are regular in outline, and the conventionalism in inter-
pretation and in form is strong. The decoration on sacrificial
objects, on the other hand, 1s, on the whole, crude; it is throughout
pictographic in character. The crudeness of these designs 1s
partly due to lack of skill in the use of the brush and of the carv-
ing-tool, and in the application of bead-work by means of wax,—
an art which is undoubtedly a survival of the ancient turquoise
mosaics. All carved and painted designs of the Huichol In-
dians seem to be crude, and many of the embroidered designs
on sacrificial objects are also poorly executed; but this may be
partly due to their temporary
character. A few of them,
however, are carefully woven;
but their designs are picto-
graphic, not geometrical. The
interpretation of the conven-
tional decorative designs of the Huichol is, on the whole, in line
with the ideas expressed on their ceremonial objects. Their con-
stant thought is the need of rain for their crops; and the water-
38 PRIMITIVE ART
gourd, the flowers, the vines and serpents are all considered as
symbols of rain or of the vegetation produced by rain.
In this respect the interpretation of the geometrical designs
given by the Huichol resembles very much that given by the
Pueblo Indians of the arid Southwest. Some of the favorite
motives of their decorative art are interpreted in the same man-
ner, terraced triangles with lines descending from them being
always interpreted as rain-clouds and falling rain; while zigzag
lines represent lightning.
SUMMARY.
The description of these collections shows that in many
remote parts of the world primitive people interpret the orna-
mental designs which they use for decorating objects of every-
day use as representations of realistic ideas. Investigations
among other peoples, from whom the Museum has no collections,
show that the same tendency may be found all over the world.
In some cases it has been found possible to bring together a
series of decorative motives which show at one end an almost
realistic representation of a-certain object, while at the other end
of the series may be seen a purely conventional form. From this
observation the conclusion has been drawn, that, on the whole,
geometrical ornaments originated from realistic forms by gradual
transformation.
On the other hand, we have seen that in many cases the same
form was transferred from one tribe to another by borrowing,
as, for instance, among the Indians of the Plains; and that dif-
ferent interpretations were given to the same forms by different
tribes. This seems to indicate that the interpretation may also
be adapted to the design, or, as we may say, that, according to
the favorite concepts of the people, an idea has been “read
into” the design.
PRIMITIVE ART 39
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following papers describing in detail the collections re-
ferred to in this Guide have been published by the Museum:
Hall 108.
Boas, Franz. The Decorative Art of the Indians of the
North Pacific Coast (Bulletin, Vol. IX, Article X).
Emmons, G. T. The Basketry of the Tlingit (Memoirs, Vol.
ee Part 11).
Teit, James. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,
Chapter on Art by F. Boas (Memoirs Vol. II, Part IV,
Pp. 376-386).
Farrand, Livingston. Basketry Designs of the Salish In-
dians (Memoirs, Vol. II, Part V).
Hall to2.
Kroeber, Alfred L. The Arapaho (Bulletin, Vol. XVIII,
Part I, pp. 36-150).
Wissler, Clark. Decorative Art of the Sioux Indians (Bul-
letin, Vol. XVIII, Part III). In preparation.
Laufer, Berthold. Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes (Me-
mous. VOM VLE “Pant 1).
Hall 202.
Dixon, Roland B. Basketry Designs of the Indians of
Northern California (Bulletin, Vol. XVII, Part I).
Lumholtz, Carl. Decorative Art of the Huichol Indians
(Memoirs, Vol. III, Part III). I” press.
The following general works on primitive art are recom-
mended to students:
Grosse, Ernst. The Beginnings of Art. D. Appleton & Co.
New York, 1897.
Haddon, A. C. Evolution in Art. Chas. Scribner’s Sons.
New York.
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CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE
From Group ia Museum
The American Museum Journal
VOL. Iv. OCTOBER, 1904. No. 4
NEW GROUPS OF GAME BIRDS.
—. 0
=== 6
HE acquisition of a complete series of groups of North
American game birds showing the nests with their
natural surroundings, and eggs or young birds, has
been rendered possible through the generosity of
friends of the Museum. The Ruffed Grouse,
Bob-white and Woodcock being local species, they have been for
some time represented in our group collections, but with the
funds now available it is proposed to add the game birds of other
parts of the country.
Three groups of the proposed series have already been placed
upon exhibition, the California Valley and Mountain Partridges,
or “Quail,” (Lophortyx californicus and Oreortyx pictus plumt-
jerus), and the Sierra Dusky or Blue Grouse. In each instance
a pair of adult birds is shown with their nest, young and a photo-
graph of the nesting site.
The young in the group of Valley Partridge, or “ Valley Quail,”
as it is commonly called in California, are less than a day old, but
their well-grown, downy plumage illustrates very well the high
degree of development attained by the young of all gallinaceous
birds before hatching. The young in the Mountain Partridge,
or “Mountain Quail,’’ group are probably a week older, but
already have acquired their second plumage and with it the
power of flight. The young of the Grouse are in a corresponding
stage of plumage.
As to color it will be observed that the plumage of the young
of all three species is of dull neutral tints which render the chicks
inconspicuous through a more or less close resemblance to the
prevailing tone of their surroundings. The female Grouse is also
protectively colored and differs strikingly in plumage from her
ok
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
mate, who, it is interesting to note in this connection, does not
assist in the task of incubation, and, in fact, is far more arboreal
in habits than the female.
This Sierra Grouse, it should be remarked, proves to be a
heretofore undescribed geographical race or subspecies of the
Dusky or Blue Grouse inhabiting the mountainous portions of
the western United States. It was previously supposed that
Grouse from the Sierras were similar to those of the coast region
from Oregon to Alaska, but comparison of specimens shows that
the Sierra Grouse differs from both the Coast Range and the
Rocky Mountain forms and although the variety more closely
resembles the latter than the former, it has evidently been de-
rived from the Coast Range bird of which it is a paler, southern
representative. The new Grouse has been named Dendragapus
obscurus sierrensts.
A fourth California group, though not of a game bird, may
be mentioned in the present connection. It shows a family of
Yellow-billed Magpies with their bulky, domed nest, a structure
so large that two small villages were visited before a box big
enough to transport it safely was found. This species has a most
restricted range in the foot-hills of the Sierra and Coast Ranges in
middle California, and is yearly decreasing in numbers through
its habit of eating ground squirrels which have been poisoned
by farmers.
Groups of these vanishing species are especially desirable
and the Museum is exerting itself to secure, while there is yet
time, material which shall show satisfactorily the nesting habits
of those of our birds which are rapidly nearing extinction.
Fy: @
Mr. WALTER GRANGER of the Department of Vertebrate
Paleontology reports having had good success in finding the small
and rare mammals of Eocene age for which he has been search-
ing in southwestern Wyoming. He likewise has obtained the
material to complete a skeleton of Uintatherium, one of the
enormous mammals which characterized the middle Eocene beds
of the central west.
72
73 CALIFORNIA VALLEY PARTRIDGE
From Group in Museum
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
SOCIAL PARASITISM AMONG ANTS.
=3)N an article published in last year’s volume of the
4 6©6Bulletin of the American Museum, the author
called attention to the occurrence of certain very
diminutive females, or queens, in a species of ant
(Formica microgyna) from Colorado and Utah.
Unexpected light was thrown on this interesting reduction in the
size of the queen by a recent study in the Litchfield Hills (Conn.)
of another ant (F. difficilis) which is known to have similar
queens. Several peculiar mixed colonies were found, each con-
sisting of a fertile queen of Ff. difficilis, either singly or accom-
panied by a few young workers, living in colonies of another ant
(F. incerta). Afterward the fact was established, both by
observation of the natural colonies and by keeping the ants
in artificial nests, that the dzfficilis queen, being too small to bring
up her own colony, enters a queenless colony of Ff. tncerta, and
then turns over her first batch of young to be brought up by
the incerta workers. As the dijficilis colony grows to be more
and more populous, it gradually emancipates itself from the
incerta and finally becomes a pure dzfficilis colony, the workers
of which are as bold and pugnacious as the queen and her first
offspring were timid and conciliatory.
These observations show that F. dzfficilis is a true cuckoo
ant, a temporary parasite. All the mixed colonies of ants have
hitherto been tacitly regarded as permanent unions or consocia-
tions of two species, like the slave-making ants and their slaves,
or auxiliaries. The case of F. difficilis throws light on a whole
series of mixed colonies which have been called abnormal or
accidental, merely because they have not often been seen, like
the mixed colonies of A phenogaster tennesseense and A. fuluum;
Formica exsectoides and F. subsericea; F. dakotensis and F.
subsericea; and the European as well as the American F.. rufa and
F. fusca with their varieties. In all these cases it is highly prob-
able that we are concerned with a normal temporary parasitism
of one species of anton another. The species of Formica which
exhibit this method of founding their colonies all belong to the
74
COLLECTING IN FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMAS
ruja and exsecta groups, and the forms in whose nests they estab-
lish these colonies belong to the more abundant species of the
jusca and pallide-fulva groups. Another ant of a very different
sub-family, namely A phenogaster tennesseense, curiously enough,
shows a similar reduction in the size of its queens and it too,
as certain cases show, in all probability first establishes its colo-
nies in the nests of some one of our numerous varieties of A.
juluum. A full account of the temporary parasitism of F.
diffictlis and of several other species will shortly be published.
WiLt1AM Morton WHEELER.
A COLLECTING TRIP TO FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMAS.
———=" HROUGH the generosity of Mr. Nathan A. Bill of
Wea] Springfield, Massachusetts, the schooner yacht
“Gloria” was placed at the disposal of the Museum
in May and June fora collecting expedition in the
Florida Keys and the Bahama Islands. Professor
William Morton Wheeler of the Department of Invertebrate
Zoology and Mr. Frank M. Chapman of the Department of Or-
nithology and Mammalogy embarked on this vessel at Miami,
Florida, May 4, 1904, and on May 31 were joined at Nassau,
Bahamas, by Dr. B. E. Dahlgren of the Department of Prepara-
tion and Installation.
Among birds, material for groups of the Roseate Spoonbill,
Snowy Egret, Ani or Black Cuckoo and Flamingo were especially
desired. The two former, it was hoped to find in Florida, while
the latter were to be looked for in the Bahamas.
The attempt to find the nests of the Spoonbill and Egret
resulted in failure. The few Spoonbills known to inhabit an
isolated rookery near the southwestern border of the Everglades
were reported by the game warden employed by the American
Ornithologists’ Union and the Florida Audubon Society to have
bred at an unusually early date, while the Egrets inhabiting the
same rookery had been killed by a band of plume-hunters. It is
evident therefore that so long as a single aigrette-bearing heron
remains in Florida, it is liable to be pursued for its plumes. As
75
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
a result of this merciless persecution during the season of repro-
duction, the early extinction in Florida of both these species is
assured.
Several days were spent in cruising on the “‘ Gloria’ among
the Florida Keys, collecting marine and terrestrial invertebrates.
The insect fauna peculiar to the mangrove thickets that cover the
island was investigated whenever it was convenient to land. The
STAR FISH—A HALF HOUR’S COLLECTING AT ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS
ants, especially, proved to be of great interest, since they have
been compelled in these regions to adapt themselves to an arbo-
real life; living in the hollow dead twigs of the mangroves and
between the bud scales of the singular epiphytic Tillandsias.
May 9 the schooner returned to Miami and thence started for
the Bahamas. It reached the northern end of Andros Island
May 12. From this date till June 30 the work of the expedition
was confined to Andros and New Providence Islands and the
adjacent keys of the Bahama group.
76
COLLECTING IN FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMAS
In the Bahamas, Mr. Chapman’s search for birds was very
successful, and a detailed report of the hunt for nesting Flamin-
goes, their discovery, and the subsequent study of their before
almost unknown home-life will appear later. In due season it is
proposed to exhibit a large group of these remarkable birds fully
illustrating their nesting habits.
The offer of a small reward in the local Nassau newspaper
caused a large part of the idle population of New Providence to
=
CORALS AND SEA FANS—AN HOUR’S COLLECTING ON ANDROS REEF, BAHAMAS
take to the field in a search for the nest of the Ani (Crotophaga
ant) or as it is locally called, Blackbird or Carrion Crow. The
Ani is in truth a Cuckoo whose nesting habits are, so far as known,
unique among birds. From three or four to ten or twelve Anis
are usually associated throughout the year. On the approach of
the breeding season in June, the birds do not pair, but all unite in
building a common nest in which the females of the flock lay their
eggs. The number of eggs deposited by a single individual is
unknown, but as many as thirty eggs have been found in a single
77
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
nest. Incubation is evidently shared by all members of this com-
munistic family and the care of the young is also a common duty.
Nests, eggs, adults and young were secured which will fully
illustrate the nesting habits of this interesting bird.
Material was also gathered for a group of white-crowned
Pigeons and numerous specimens of Bahama birds were added to
the study collection.
Professor Wheeler and Dr. Dahlgren devoted their time to
collecting and observing the marine and terrestrial invertebrates.
Careful color sketches were made of many of the marine species,
with a view to reproducing their living portions in the exhibition
collections of the Museum. Some of the larger marine mollusks
were modeled from life and drawings made of them. Specimens
embodying the results of these studies are in course of prepara-
tion and will soon be on exhibition. Materials were also obtained
for a group of ‘the land-crabs so characteristic of tropical Florida,
the Bahamas and other islands of the West Indies.
The coloration of the corals was found to be rather dull;
various shades of yellow predominating, and a bright green or
black being seen only occasionally. The coloration of the
sponges, on the other hand, is of a most brilliant nature, ranging
from bright yellow, orange, red and even vivid purple to a deep
black. By the aid of the notes obtained it will be possible to
restore accurately the color of a great number of the specimens in
the sponge collection, thus giving some idea of their remarkable
appearance in a living condition.
Among terrestrial invertebrates Professor Wheeler collected a
fine series of mollusks (mainly of the genus Strophza) to illustrate
geographical distribution and variation, many Myriapoda and
Arachnida (chiefly Opilionidee) and practically complete series
of the ants (Formicide) of Andros and New Providence Islands.
Only four or five species of Formicidz have been described from
the Bahamas. About 50 species, including several new ones
of interest in connection with the ant faunas of Cuba and Florida,
were taken on the two above-mentioned islands and the adjacent
keys. Many of the species have become singularly modified in
their habits. Owing to the very small amount of soil on Andros
78
THE LIBRARY
and New Providence, nearly all the species have taken to living
in the hollow twigs of trees or even in the culms of grasses and
sedges. It was only after this fact was discovered that collecting
these insects became profitable and interesting.
Dr. Dahlgren’s studies were particularly valuable as indicat-
ing the desirability and feasibility of reproducing an entire coral
reef in the Museum. Such a reef would present a remarkable
sight, with its immense masses of corals, with its twenty-five or
more species of sea-fans of wonderful beauty, with its flower-like
actinians, with its sponges, extraordinary in their brilliancy
of coloring, and with its whole world of moving creatures,—
enormous holothurians, large mollusks, star-fishes, long-spined
sea-urchins and crustaceans and its tropical fishes of every color
of the rainbow.
THE LIBRARY:
y) URING the past yearand a half the Library of the Mu-
i) seum has undergone a complete revision. w 3. Cecidomyia pilule........ pauO0:
ss GIGHIOGErUS 35). oe :
A RENE : Scrub Oak (Quercits sana),
R We a RE OLN ood Amphibolips tlictfolie....... 16.
TOS @ ets shee 6. ip
ie sre iu Andricus punctatus......... 20.
@) Saye). ce. esa) (ae el de 6c . “7°
v3 lenticularis........ 8. : Sune thou. i toda a se
Cecidomyta filule.......... 66.
Trailing Biackb Rut cana-
ae CLE MOS CaS Rock Chestnut Oak (Quercus
densis). ;
‘ a primus).
Diastrophus bassetit........ 9. Andricus papillatus......... 23.
i: PEMOIICOLT fe. nara ee
Blackberry (Rubus villosus).
Diastrophus cuscuteformts .. 10. - White Oak (Quercus alba).
nebulosus...... Ets Andricus seminator......... ai
a HULULOS oer dexescen cenee = ee Or
Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). “ AIGA Aas Show ees Pe
Diastrophus radicum........ 12, “ petiolicola......... Ay
; ; : . ce LaMar eisal ohh eo Oe
eee (Potentilla canadensis). Cundps \\ 4 ANY Ais