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Mar., 1908 A NEW MUSEUM 95 THE CONDOI .,?n Illustrated Magazine of Western Ornitl?olog?' Published Bi-Monthly by the Cooper 0rnltholo#i- eal Club of C&lifornl- JOSEPH GRINNELL. Editor. Pe, se?dene, J. EUGENE LAW. Business Manager. Hollywood, Cal. WILLIAM L. FINLEY ) ROBERT B. ROCKWELL Assoeie, te Editors Itollood, California: Published Mar. 20, 1908 SU!?SCP?IPTION One Doll? and Fifty Ceni. per Ye? in the United S?tes ?e?ieo, and ?. S. Colonies, payable in advauee ?hi? C?ls the single copy. 0n? Dollar and S?v?nl?-fiw C?ts ?r Y?sr in all other counties in the International F?tal Union. Claims for missing or imperfect numbers should be made within thirty days of date of issue. Subserlptlons should be sent to the Business Manager. Me?nuscrlpts and Exchanges should be sent to the Editor Advertising Rates on'application. A NEW MUSEUM There is shortly to be inaugurated at the University of California a new line of work, which will mean increased activity in the ex- ploitation of California ornithology. Miss Annie M. Alexander, of Oakland, an alumnus of the University,' has expressed her interest in the field of science, by providing means for the support for a period of years of a Univer- sity department to be called the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. While this broad title has been adopted, so as to give room for future expansion, the immediate activities of those engaged in the work of the Mnseum will be concerned with mammals, birds and reptiles. It is proposed to have at least one party con- tinually in the field thruout the year. The ob- jects will be not only the accunmlation of specimens from our vertebrate fannie, but also the gathering of data on life histories, habits, and distribution, together with special ecologi- cal studies of certain localities. Miss Alex- ander will herself take active part in the field work, and there will be at least two others whose entire time will be devoted to the Mu- seum's interests. The collections will be gath- ered with a view to providing research nmterial of the best quality, accompanied by accurate information as to the natural conditions under which the species concerned were living. An additional feature of the new Museum will be the installation of several mounted groups of our native large mammals. It is also planned to secure material for so?ne exhibition groups of certain birds and smaller mammals arranged to show typical associations from different faunal areas. A building provided by the Uni- versity is being planned especially for the Mu- seum, and will be completed during the com- ing summer. Meanwhile preparations are in progress for active field work during the spring.--J. G. THE REHABILITATION OF THE CALI- FORNIA ACADEMY O1 SCIENCES The income building and museum building of the Academy and most of their contents burned about noon, April 18, 1906. All of the records of the Academy, many of the insect, plant, and reptile types, a few books, and two bird specimens (the types of the Guadalupe Petrel) were saved. A number of uninjured ethnological specimens were taken from the ruins after the fire. The restoration began without delay. On the 29th of April, 1906, the first office was se- cured at 1806 Post Street. Here the work of soliciting donations from the learned societies of the world was begun. American societies and several foreign, British Museum, Zoologi- cal Society of London, etc., were written to directly by the Academy. The Smithsonian Institution kindly volunteered to take up the burden of corresponding with other foreign societies. As a result of all of this work the Academy now has thru gifts over ten thousand volumes on natural history. The Academy moved into its present tem- porary quarters on Gough Street, near Sacra- mento, on June 1, 1906. About this time the first donation to the ornithological collection was received; viz., a Yellow-billed Tropic Bird, the gift of Mr. H. W. Henshaw of the Biologi- cal Survey, who had overlooked it when dis- posing of his collection some years ago. After a ten years stay in the Hawaiian Islands he re- turned to Washington, where he found this bird among his belongings, and presented it to the Academy, stating in his letter that he felt that it was "the beginning of a great collec- tion". The Galapagos Expedition put the Academy "on its feet" as far as material for a new mu- seum is concerned. This Expedition left San Francisco on Jnne 28, 1905, returning Thanks- giving Day, 1906, with some 5000 reptiles,' 38000 shells, 1000 tertiary invertebrate fossils, about 13000 insects, about 10000 plants, 8688 birds, about 2000 eggs, many nests, and about 120 mammals. The first paper on the results of the Gala- pagos Expedition, and also the first since the fire, was issued December 20, 1907, and des- cribed four new t9rtoises. The last paper pub- lished by the Academy before the fire was is- sued in March, 1906. During the past year specimens as well as books have come in steadily. Dr. J. C. Thomp- son, U.S. N., has sent in large collections of Philippine reptiles and insects, making the Academy's collection of the former second to none. Mr. Anderson, Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, has secured for the Academy large numbers of Pacific Coast invertebrate fos- sils and shells. Mr. 1? H. Beck, chief field