44 R. W. Shufeldt—Birds in Washington Zoological Gardens


First a word as to the wild birds that regularly occur every yearly

migration in this extensive domain—some of which nest there and rear

their young. Most of these fall in with the passerine groups, as the

Thrushes, Warblers, and Bluebirds, not to mention a considerable

list of others. As I write these lines I have just returned from the

“ Zoo ”, where I have been photographing, out in the timbered part,

a captive Opossum. As I made the second exposure a wild Turkey

flew down and lit in the snow within 50 feet of my camera. The elegant

bird was quite oblivious of our presence—there being three of us, my

wife, a park attendant, and myself. Bevies of Quail are frequent

visitors, and occasionally a Woodcock may be flushed in the swampy

places. Crows, Vultures, Woodpeckers, Jays, Wild-fowl, Herons,

Waders—in fact, all birds of the immediate region—are to be found

in this park at one time or another. Some of these are attracted by

those of the corresponding species confined in cages that have been

erected in more or less secluded places among the trees. There you will

see a wild Barred Owl in the evening, sitting outside on top of the big

cage in which are confined some six or seven of its own species. There

are a number of Night Herons in the great flying cage ; so we find in

the evening wild birds of the same species, to the number of five or

six (eleven in one instance), alighting on the trees in the vicinity, or on

top of the cage. In numerous instances they have built their nests

and reared their young in the latter place.*


In addition to Night Herons the flying cage contains Florida

Cormorants, various Gulls, Australian Swans, Great Blue Herons,

several species of Ibis, Anhingas, Pelicans, and other water-fowl. There

is a good-sized pond in the centre, a spring near by, and a large tree

for the Cormorants and Herons to nest in.


Close to this great cage is another of no mean proportions, in which we

may see as fine a collection of Cockatoos and other Psittacidse as exists

in any zoological garden in the world. There are two or three species

of Macaws with them, some five or six of each kind, with numerous

specimens of the Sulphur-crested and Leadbeater’s Cockatoos. Along

the same path we come to a little pool on which one may see some twenty



* [Aviculturists will remember a similar mixture of wild and tame Herons

in the Zoological Gardens at Rotterdam.—G. R.]



