ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



359 



dress and so eager to know about animals that 

 it was a pleasure to talk to them. Through- 

 out the whole course of lectures there never 

 was the least disorder, or break in discipline, 

 and each lecture was listened to with close 

 attention. 



Naturall}', the subject matter of the lectures, 

 and the illustrations, were most carefully 

 chosen to meet the age and understanding of 

 the pupils, and to set forth only facts which 

 could be understood and remembered. At the 

 close of each lecture, the classes were taken 

 out in sections, with about fifty pupils in each 

 section, and guided to the living creatures 

 which specially illustrated the lecture. On 

 reaching each collection, a demonstrator 

 pointed out the specimens of special interest 

 to the pupils. 



It is not going too far to say that by the 

 teachers, principals and district superinten- 

 dents who either saw this work in progress, or 

 participated in it, the experiment was pro- 

 nounced an unqualified success. An earnest 

 appeal has been made to the Zoological So- 

 ciety that it provide a permanent lecture hall 

 in the Zoological Park, capable of seating 

 1,000 school children, in order that the chil- 

 dren of Manhattan may enjoy the privilege 

 of practical zoological instruction in the Park 

 that now is available only to those of Bronx 

 Borough. 



THE BATELEUR EAGLE. 



THERE is now living in the collection of 

 the birds of prey a splendid specimen 

 of the bateleur eagle. This bird is re- 

 markable for its magnificent bearing, the bril- 

 liant uneaglelike colors of its plumage and its 

 absurdly short tail. It is found over the 

 greater part of the African continent, south 

 of the Sahara, and is especially characteristic 

 of the southern part. 



The long crest adds much to its martial ap- 

 pearance, and this, together with the head, 

 sides of the neck and the under parts, are 

 glossy-black. The back, tail-coverts and tail 

 are rich maroon-chestnut, while the shoulders 

 and most of the wing-coverts are of a silvery 

 hue. The flight feathers are black and the 

 beak is parti-colored yellow, orange and black, 

 while the feet and legs are bright coral-red. 

 .\lthough the bird measures a full two feet 

 in length, yet the tail is only four and a quar- 

 ter inches long, producing the effect of a bird 

 with a tail only partly grown out. 



The French name bateleur, synonymous 

 with the terms harlequin and mountebank, was 



given to this eagle because of its curious and 

 inexplicable habit of turning somersaults in 

 mid-air. It also occasionally swings from side 

 to side while in full flight, with the wings 

 rigid and held slantingly upward. To com- 

 plete the tale of its remarkable aerial habits, 

 when hunting for prey, instead of watching 

 the ground before or immediately beneath it, 

 the bird draws its head downward and close 

 to the body, apparently looking backward be- 

 tween its legs to the ground over which it has 

 passed. 



The diet consists of small reptiles and mam- 

 mals, and this eagle feeds frequently on car- 

 rion in company with the true vultures. It is 

 said to attack poultry, but a specimen which 

 was kept in a henhouse did no damage except 

 to devour some of the eggs. A nest of sticks 

 is built near the top of some high and thorny 

 acacia where the large creamy-white egg is 

 laid. ' c. w. B. 



NESTING OF THE BIRDS IN THE 

 COLLECTION. 



RAIXY and cold though the spring has 

 been, many birds in the collection have 

 nested. The sand-hill cranes built their 

 nest and laid two eggs as usual, and the mal- 

 lard ducks began to incubate almost before the 

 frost was out of the ground. There were 

 seventeen of their nests around the Wild-Fowl 

 Pond alone, although so well hidden that they 

 were invisible until the sitting bird was flushed. 

 Many broods of ducklings of various ages are 

 now on the several ponds and foraging for 

 themselves among the grass. As usual, on 

 the appearance of the first broods, a crow or 

 two developed a sudden fancy for ducklings 

 and six or eight unfortunate youngsters were 

 carried away before the black marauders were 

 shot. Soon afterward a stray cat was shot 

 while stalking a brood, but since that time no 

 enemy has interfered with the young mallards. 



The griiYon vulture laid a large white egg 

 in the corner of her cage and savagely re- 

 sented its removal. The brown pelican, white- 

 breasted guan, Egyptian goose and Himalayan 

 jay-thrush laid eggs for the first time, but 

 none of these built nests. 



Considerable excitement was caused one day 

 in the big central flying cage of the bird house 

 by the sudden appearance of a young safifron 

 finch. When first observed it was squatting 

 on the sand with an admiring, or at least in- 

 terested, circle of birds — terns, quails, pigeons, 

 gallinules, larks and orioles — gathered about 

 it. Where it had been reared was for a long 



