REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 101 



During the year many minor improvements have been made in 

 connection witli usual maintenance o[)erations. A new type of label 

 is being tried out, and the less legible of the older type are being 

 replaced as raj)idly as possible by the new style. 



Tiie American waterfowl pond was cleaned by hydraulioking, 

 which restored it to a very satisfactory condition. 



The destruction of the old bird house may be considered one of the 

 greatest improvements the park has made in years, but it greatly 

 reduced the housing facilities and no attem])t at all has been made 

 to obtain quantities of specimens of the smaller birds and mannnals 

 even to replace those lost during the year. There being no empty 

 cages to fill, the zoo has been able to pick and choose in making i)ur- 

 chases, so that at the present time the collection contains a great 

 number of interesting rarities, including a number of species unique 

 in American collections. 



NEEDS OF THE ZOO 



Quarters for animals remain the most urgent need of the park. 

 The greatest need is for a house in which can be displayed repre- 

 sentatives of the large and very interesting group of small mammals. 

 The need for such a house has previousl}' been emphasized. 



The National Zoological Park is second to none in natural beauty, 

 and its building program is planned to conserve this by means of 

 constructing a few large, capacious exhibition buildings instead of 

 more numerous small ones, each of the new buildings to house several 

 groups of animals. 



Hence, in the small-mammal house it is proposed to provide quar- 

 ters also for the great apes. The park has an excellent collection 

 of these, but the}' are now housed in such small cages that they do 

 not appear to the best advantage and can be seen by comparatively 

 few people at one time. 



The fire department of Washington has investigated the fire-pre- 

 vention facilities in the park and finds that the fire hazards are very 

 great on account of inadequate water mains and equipment. Expan- 

 sion of the water system is therefore very urgently needed as a 

 protection against fire and at tlie same time to augment the park's 

 inadequate regular supply. 



It is now 40 years since the park was established. Much of the 

 woodwork and ironwork in buildings and enclosures constructed in 

 the earlier days, and even comparatively recently, has deteriorated 

 from natural causes and from the unusual conditions present in the 

 zoo, so that we are now confronted with an early and necessary 

 program of replacement. One pair of boilers now .51 years old in 

 the central heating plant have been passed by the boiler inspectors 

 280D5— 31 8 



