Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-17
LOCAL B|RDS|
New Collection lust Opened at
National Museum.
SPECIES COMMON HERE
Display includes All Those Residents
Of the District Have Been
|. Used to Seeing.

A new collection that has just been
opened in the National Museum consists
entirely Of birds from the District Of Co.
lumbia. Many of them were collected
all were arranged by William Palmer.
Many Of the birds are common sorts, such
as are familiar to all residents of Wash
ington-herons. eagles, hawks and king
fishers from the neighborhood Of the Po-
tomac and the other streams and the
robins, bluebirds. wrens, martins and
thrushes. such as are found more in the
woods and fields. There are, however
number of very rare BIRDS
only single specimen Of some Of
them ever having been found in this
region. There is one very rare heron and
several f1ycatchers, and others equally
rare. The collection has been grouped
on the third floor. where those interested
in local bird life can use the specimens
to identify. any birds with which they
are not familiar
One of the rarest species represented
is now an extinct bird in America. 1t
is the American wild pigeon of which
in the past generation there used to be
literally millions in this country. There
are four specimens, all killed in the Dis
trlct. One Is an adult male, another an
adult female and two young birds.
Another Collection Of Pigeons.
There is another collection Of pigeons
just installed. on the same floor. 1t rep
resents an artistic dovecot with thirty
eight specimens of all varieties grouped
on the lodges. just alighting and just
leaving. There are homers and carriers
and pouters and tumblers. nuns and fan
tails and other sorts that nobody except
a fancier would recognize. There is IA
key to the collection in the shape of an
adjoining case, where there are one or
more specimens of each pigeon repre-
scented in the big case. These specimens
are conventionally mounted, and each
bears a label. that by it any CORE
spending bird in the big group can be
identified Arrangements are being made
by the museum to get one more specimen
for the pigeon collection. This is one of
the European wild pigeons, from which
all the present varieties of domestic
pigeons sprang.
An experiment has been tried in cas-
ing the pigeons, and some of the other
birds on the third foor-that is, in
having the specimens set against a dull,
dark background instead of having the
inside of the cases painted white. as Is
small matter. but it was the result of
good deal of study. and its effect is to
bring out the colors much more vividly
and to give the specimens much more of
an 1nulVlOudilty IMAM is usually the CSsc
Experiment With Fish.
There has been an experiment tried also
with fish in the same section of the mu-
scum. There have been a number Of
specimens mounted in alcohol, not as
reptile specimens used to be dumped into
bottle corked up so that it was i'm
possible to tell anything about them, but
mounted as though they were swimming
in little rectangular clear glass cases
that give them the appearance of act
ually swimming in water. The specimens
where the colors were faded by the death
have been painted with a particular sort
of color not affected by the alcohol.
1t is not known how long these speci-
mems will retain their color in their new
setting, but il the experiment is sue
cessful, there will be more specimens and
larger ones treated in the same way.
One of the problems of museum display
for a long time has been how to treat
fish and water reptiles so as to preserve
their colors. The best casts and paint
ings look dead and dull beside the live
specimens, and there are only a few
fish that can be skinned and stuffed, and
this method never has been satisfactory.
There are seventeen of the fish specimens.
all of them small, but the result so far Is
promisingly artistic.