THE OSPREY. 



C. Hart Merriam, Mr. George Bird Grinnell and 

 Mr. Elwood Hofer have already, by invitation of the 

 Society, carefully and critically inspected the site, 

 and the plans for its utilization, and reported in de- 

 tail. Other experts are to render similar services 

 very shortly. 



Our ornithologists will naturally be most interested 

 in the Society's plans respecting its bird collections. 

 In a short article it is only possible to offer the merest 

 outline of what is 

 proposed. The 

 separate collec- 

 tions of birds al- 

 ready provided for 

 in the plans will 

 be installed in the 

 following struc- 

 tures : 



The Bird House 

 will be an impos- 

 ing and beautiful 

 building, shaped 

 like a T, and pro- 

 vided with an ex- 

 tensive series o f 

 outside cages, both 

 great and small. It 

 is designed to ac- 

 co m m od a t e the 

 host of small birds 

 from both the tem- 

 perate and tropical 

 zones, and also the 

 diving birds. 



The Flying 

 Cage will be sim- 

 ply a mammoth 

 cage of light iron 

 and wire netting, 

 150 feet long, 75 

 feet wide and 50 

 feet high, standing 

 in a beautiful 

 glade, and contain- 

 ing living trees, 

 shrubs, grass and water. This is to contain (in sum- 

 mer) the large and showy water birds, such as the 

 Flamingos, Egrets, Herons. Ibises, Storks, Gulls, 

 etc., and it will afford ample opportunity for obser- 

 vations on the flight of the birds it contains. 



The Winter House for Birds will be built of 

 glass, and in winter it will contain the summer occu- 

 pants of the Flying Cage, as well as many others. 



The Eagles', Vultures' and Hawks' Aviaries will 

 form a series of huge, half-sheltered, out-door cages, 

 containing about twenty separate compartments, 

 the largest 25 feet square and 40 feet in height. It is 

 hoped that in these aviaries we may occasionally be 



able to present a complete series of the North Amer- 

 ican birds of prey. 



The Owls' Aviaries will be near the preceding, and 

 should at least contain all species that occur in the 

 United States. 



The Pheasants' Aviaries will, when complete, be 

 300 feet in length by 30 feet in depth, and will pro- 

 vide for twenty species of these beautiful, showy and 

 generally interesting birds. 



The Upland 

 Game Birds, such 

 as the Wild Tur- 

 key, various spe- 

 cies of the Grouse, 

 Quail and Part- 

 ridge, will be in- 

 stalled along the 

 shady and shelter- 

 ed side of the same 

 ridge that provides 

 a south-eastern ex- 

 posure for the Ea- 

 gles' and Pheas- 

 ants' Aviaries. 



The Lake for 

 Water Fowl con- 

 tains five acres of 

 still and deep 

 water, in the 

 Bronx R i \- e r , 

 where, by taking 

 advantage of one 

 island in existence, 

 one to be made, 

 and a beautiful 

 brushy shore on 

 the south side, it is 

 believed that 

 Swans, Geese, Cor- 

 morants, and pos- 

 sibly Pelicans, can 

 be made so much 

 at home that they 

 will breed. 



The Ducks' Av- 

 iaries ha\e been located in a wide, well-sheltered 

 hollow between two low ridges, through which runs a 

 stream of living water sufficient to supply pools for 

 perhaps thirty species of Ducks, each species in a 

 separate enclosure. 



The Cranes' A\iaries stand near those for the 

 Eagles, and form a sort of connecting link between 

 them and the Reptile House. Each species will have 

 a large yard, with running water, connecting with a 

 small shelter house. 



The Ostriches, Cassowaries and Emus will be pro- 

 vided for in the Sub-tropical House and its connecting 

 yards. Of the diving birds, and what is intended re- 



WILLIAM T. HORNADAV. 



