South Central China and Tibet: Hotspot of Diversity
Ornithological Specimens
"Dr.
Rock and his Chinese assistants collected over 1000 birds, which after
passing through many delays, and Chinese civil wars, reached this country
in perfect condition without the loss of a feather." (Bangs and Peters.
Bulletin of the Museum of of Comparitive Zoology. Vol. 68, No. 7,
1928)
Joseph Rock employed two "well trained hunters" and one "excellent" taxidermist to help him acquire and process the birds that eventually arrived at the MCZ well identified, well skinned, and well stuffed. They were also carefully wrapped in cotton and packed in boxes so well constructed and sealed that they could "be dropped in a river without the slightest damage."
Rock took few pictures of the birds he collected, but even he was impressed with "a large bird" [Gypaetus barbatus] that was shot while feeding on the carcass of a yak.
Gypaetus barbatus Giant Bearded Vulture
Five Tibetan hunters with rifles holding a Lammergeier/giant bearded
vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) on the high plateau northeast of Koko
Nor. "The wings measure ten feet from tip to tip, the outer part
of the eye a beautiful orange, the iris a pale drab color and the pupil
black." Joseph Rock Diary.
Gypaetus barbatus collected by Joseph Rock in 1925 shown here as the ornithological specimen held in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.
Tetraogallus tibetanus Snowcock
Tibet (Serchung - Serchen). Snow chickens. [Snowcock]
"We cross the Serchung Nang and climb steeply to a spur going east
elev. 12,500 ft., descend a gully and climb a trail at a terrific angle
to the top of a pass 13,200 ft. elev. We descend again going northeast in
a latteral valley full of scree and rocky cliffs simply alive with snow
chickens of which we shot quite a number. Took several photos of the boys
with the snow chickens." Joseph Rock Diary.
Tetraogallus tibetanus collected by Joseph Rock in 1925 shown here as the ornithological specimen held in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.