The Hall of North American Birds is named for Frank M. Chapman (1864-1945), the Museum's renowned ornithologist. Under the direction of Chapman, a leader in the study of bird speciation and distribution in the Western Hemisphere, the Museum's bird collection grew to become one of the greatest in the world and now holds 99 percent of all known species. The peregrine falcon diorama in this hall is one of many that Chapman conceived, and it re-creates a scene he actually saw on the Hudson River Palisades. The diorama shows an adult arriving at a nest site with a newly caught pigeon.