254 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



his food or his keeper. There was absolutely no mistaking his 

 actions ; he was at first startled, then puzzled, and then, as his mem- 

 ory awakened, highly pleased. His recognition was positive. It 

 was a most interesting and instructive lesson in animal psychology, 

 but had I not actually witnessed the performance I am sure I should 

 have been somewhat skeptical of a tale of such intelligence and 

 memory on the part of a hippopotamus. Many interesting tales 

 of the affection of animals for their keepers could be told by those 

 familiar with the zoo. 



Zoological garden men are always interested in longevity records 

 and take pride in the number of years that certain animals have 

 been kept in their collections. The death rate at the National 

 Zoological Park has always been kept very low, and the records 

 show some splendid accomplishments in keeping wild animals in 

 perfect health for periods long above the average for their kind. 



At the present time there is living in the garden only a single 

 animal that formed part of the original collection moved from the 

 Smithsonian Institution when the park was first occupied in 1891. 

 This is a sulphur-crested cockatoo {Kakatoe galerita) which was 

 presented to the Institution on April 19, 1890, and has thus been 

 in the collection for 35 years. The bird was fully adult when re- 

 ceived, and the few employees who remember it as it first came 

 say that it is unchanged in appearance or vitality. Only seven 

 other old residents of the park date back to the nineties, as follows : 

 An American white pelican received from Yellowstone National 

 Park in 1897; a bald eagle received from Gen. Nelson A Miles in 

 1898; an Alaskan bald eagle received from Gen. R. A. Alger, Sec- 

 retary of War, in 1898; two giant Galapagos Island tortoises re- 

 ceived in 1898 ; a brown pelican, 1899 ; and an anaconda, a gift from 

 the Governor of the State of Para, Brazil, received in 1899. 



Some other old-time residents still living in the park, with years 

 of arrival, are: Yakutat bear and king vulture, 1900; polar bear 

 and California condor, 1901 ; yak, black stork, and two roseate cock- 

 atoos, 1902; Kadiak bear, emu, European white pelican, two Cali- 

 fornia condors, and sacred ibis, 1903; rhesus monkey, sloth bear, 

 Somaliland ostrich, Australian crane, and European raven, 1904; 

 Polar bear, crowned crane, and European white pelican, 1905; 

 American bison, red deer, red-and-blue-and-yellow macaw, lesser 

 vasa parrot, and Indian white crane, 1906. There are numerous 

 records of other animals still living in the park of which the man- 

 agement is very proud. 



Certain North American animals have always been difficult to 

 keep in zoological gardens; just why is not always exactly clear, as 

 some of their exotic relatives are frequently among the easiest of 



