Notwithstanding the temporary nature of this installation, it is a very welcome addition to our accommodations for birds, and its feathered occupants are perfectly comfortable.

During the summer the burrowing owls were installed in an outdoor cage, where they soon dug a burrow, well sheltered from storms, and it is hoped a colony of these curious birds will soon be established here.

As a whole, the birds in the collection have settled down to contented lives, and considering that the past year was the first in which they have been free from constant disturbance by blasting and construction, the number of species which have bred is remarkable. Fourteen species have reared living young, while seven others have deposited eggs.

Those which bred are as follows:

The following laid eggs, but through various causes were un

able to hatch and rear their young:

Black Duck.

Wood Duck.

Indian Peacock.

Bob-white.

Screech Owl.

Burrowing Owl.

American Magpie.

The fourteen species which bred are referable to six different orders, a fact which may be regarded as proof of the very satisfactory manner in which the sheltered confines of Birds' Valley have been adapted to the needs of birds, which, in their wild breeding-places, represent almost every quarter of the world.

At one time during the year it was thought that an Ostrich House would be erected, and finished by December, but this hope was not realized. It is full time, however, that the bird department should be provided with two more substantial buildings, heated in winter, and about four large aviaries; for the present situation is rapidly becoming intolerable. During the winter tropical birds are housed in the Caribou House, Pelican House, and in the old Reptile House lunch-room! Under present conditions it is impossible to permit the bird collections to increase to an appreciable extent.

Notwithstanding a total lack of proper aviary facilities for perching birds, Mr. Beebe and his assistants in the bird department collected during the breeding season the nestlings of about fifteen species of wild birds, and reared them by hand quite successfully. The amount of labor and close attention requisite in such a task may be estimated by the fact that the majority of these young birds required to be fed by hand every hour. The most interesting broods were crows, owls, woodpeckers, robins, blackbirds, orioles, kingfishers, starlings, tanagers, and bluejays. All these broods were placed on exhibition as soon as it was safe to do so, and they attracted a great amount of attention, particularly from children. The kingfishers alone defied all attempts to bring them to maturity.

Mr. Beebe's studies and persistent investigations of the diseases of birds, and their treatment, have yielded many valuable results. Out of a list of twenty-seven organic diseases which have caused deaths among the birds, all but seven have at last yielded to treatment. Among these seven are tuberculosis, advanced gangrene, a peculiar foot disease, and a stomachic trouble. The two last mentioned will doubtless soon be added to the list of cures. Detailed study has been given to this subject, and the results show that the deaths during recent months have been mainly due to such four-footed pests as cats, weasels, and rats, and to accidents.

Although as yet no new bird-houses have been constructed, by constant effort to meet the conditions demanded in crowded cages and the kindly dispositions of the birds themselves, many species have been successfully caged together. In this way room has been found for the 229 gifts and 270 purchases, which, with 79 specimens collected by members of the department, comprise the 499 additions to the collection during the past year.

Among the most important of these additions may be mentioned the following:

Gifts.-2 jungle fowl, 2 black-winged peacocks, I guan, I crested curassow, and I crowned pigeon, from Homer Davenport; 22 scaled quails, I golden eagle, and 4 western red-tailed hawks, from Charles Sheldon; 4 yellow-crowned and 4 black-crowned night herons, from C. D. Brown; and 2 banded fruit pigeons, from Mason Mitchell.

Purchases. I whooping crane, 2 sandhill cranes, and 5 demoiselle cranes; 12 brown pelicans, 4 American flamingoes, 4 roseate spoonbills, 2 Javan peacocks, 2 ring-necked pheasants, 2 peacock pheasants, and 2 Mongolian pheasants; I Brazilian eagle, and 2 Chinese geese.

The rarest specimen received during the year was an albino bob-white (Colinus virginianus), captured in southern Oklahoma, and presented by Mr. Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kan. Amongst quails, albinism appears to be of exceedingly rare occurrence, and Mr. Payne declares that this bird is one out of two million."

To the bird department, the most important gift of the year was $300 in cash received from Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes for the purchase of ornithological books. The invaluable aid this will afford in the study of the habits and the care of birds may be judged by the titles of the books as given elsewhere in the annual list of gifts to the Society.

On December 31, 1901, the bird department contained the following birds:

Net gain during year: 59 species, 234 specimens.

DEPARTMENT OF Reptiles.-Raymond L. Ditmars, Assistant Curator,

in Charge.

During the past year this department has maintained the high standard it reached last year, and its record for the year is excellent. Fortunately for all concerned, its equipment of installations, excepting the Tortoise House, was complete at the opening of the Park. All its cages are kept well filled, and its most valuable specimens seem destined to live longest.

It is a source of gratification to be able to report that notwithstanding the large number of venomous serpents in the collection, no accidents from them have occurred to any of the men in charge.

The most noteworthy accession in this department during the year was the purchase of five giant tortoises, from the Galapagos Islands. These very interesting specimens will be specially described elsewhere by the Assistant Curator. It is a satisfaction to be able to report that the largest and most valuable of the giant tortoises has greatly improved in health since his arrival at the Park last summer, and is much stronger than six months ago. Now that the monkeys have been removed from the Tortoise House to their own permanent building, the former will be speedily fitted up for its rightful occupants.

Among other important additions made to the collections during the year may be mentioned a giant alligator turtle from Plaquemine, Louisiana, weighing 110 pounds; two Cuban crocodiles from Cuba, gift of Captain A. G. Hammond, 8th U. S. Cavalry; a black iguana from the Bahamas, gift of Mr. A. Van Winkle; a very large monitor lizard, or "Kabra goya," from Ceylon; and three red rattlesnakes from California.

In the month of June, Curator Ditmars and Keeper Charles Snyder spent their vacation in South Carolina, where they collected 134 serpents, 271 lizards, and 4 chelonians.

Thanks to their enterprise, our collection of Southern watersnakes is particularly fine.

In the care of a collection of reptiles, one of the most difficult tasks is the supplying of acceptable food. Aside from the matter of cost, there are many times when the men of the reptile department are taxed to the limit of their ingenuity to obtain a sufficient supply of the right kinds of food. Not long since, it was necessary to kill a number of young rattlesnakes that were born in the Reptile House because of the impossibility of securing enough mice with which to feed them.

It should be stated that the birds and quadrupeds used are killed before being offered as food. Reptiles do not require live food, but in order to swallow an animal satisfactorily, it is best that it be offered while warm, and before rigor mortis has set in.

The following memorandum has been compiled by Mr. Ditmars and Mr. Snyder to show the quantities of certain kinds of reptilian food used during the past year:

At the close of the year the state of the reptilian collections on hand was as follows: