362 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



tents and purposes, sandpipers in appearance 

 and in choice of haunts ! The ovenbird is one 

 of the easiest of our summer birds to identify 

 by its song — a loud, ringing crescendo, 

 sounding like TEACHER! TEACHER! 

 TEz^CHER! TEACHER! 



Of the ten species of warblers living in the 

 Large Bird-House which are only migrants 

 with us, eight are more or less common. These 

 are the northern parula, the black-throated 

 blue and the black-throated green, the myrtle, 

 the magnolia — perhaps the most beautiful of 

 all, the blackpoll, the northern water-thrush — 

 noted for its wild ringing song, and the dainty 

 Canadian warbler, with a necklace of black 

 beads upon its yellow breast. 



These are all interesting, the more so, per- 

 haps, because of the mystery which surrounds 

 their nesting home, tiny air-castles built 

 among the giant spruces and firs of the far 

 north. The pine warbler is rather rare, but 

 the gem of the whole collection is the mourn- 

 ing warbler. This is one of the latest of all 

 the migrants, passing north in late May and 

 early June, and never stopping with us more 

 thaii a" day or two, but seeking the wild regions 

 of the cool mountains farther north. A day 

 which brings the mourning warbler within 

 range of our glasses is a red-letter one, 

 indeed. 



One of the easiest of these birds to identify 

 in the field is the male black-throated blue, but 

 the female is one of the most difficult. In her 

 olive dress with a thin white line over the eye 

 and a patch of similar color at the base of the 

 primaries, she is as different as can be 

 imagined from her blue, black and white 

 spouse. But when one can watch the dull- 

 colored female at arm's length, fl}ing, feeding, 

 bathing, for hours at a time, the faint char- 

 acters of color and movement are readily 

 learned. The usefulness of such a collection 

 of warblers as ours is then apparent, and the 

 facts will remain fi.xed in the mind much more 

 certainly than if conned from a dried skin or 

 from a written description, no matter how 

 accurate the latter mav be. 



ZOOLOGICAL PARK NOTES. 



Owing to the unseasonable and protracted 

 cool weather, the outside Lizard and Tortoise 

 Yards were not occupied until the first week 

 in June. Then the doors were thrown open, 

 and the various reptiles quartered in the east- 

 ern room of the Reptile House trooped forth 

 to the open air and sunshine. Among the liz- 

 ards there was a great amount of frisking and 



dashing about. Later on, all the specimens in- 

 dulged in "sun-baths," assuming the character- 

 istic sprawling attitudes that point to a general 

 contentment with their lot. 



:|; :{: ;[: 



Our collection of anthropoid apes has been 

 diminished by the death of "Dohong," the 

 male orang-utan, who lived here four years ; 

 but the loss has been made good by the recent 

 purchase, from Captain Percy Watson, of the 

 steamer "Indrasahma," of another male orang 

 of about the same size as "Dohong." The 

 newcomer has been named "Captain." His 

 hair is unusually long and thick, and of a rich, 

 dark-red color. As seen in action he is ex- 

 ceedingly picturesque. At present he is sus- 

 picious of everybody, and it will be several 

 weeks before any attempt can be made to learn 

 his susceptibility to training. In addition to 

 "Captain," the ape collection has acquired two 

 small female orang-utans, and a small chim- 

 panzee, named "August," who is exceedingly 

 lively and droll. The latest arrival of all is 

 a young bald-headed chimpanzee. (Pan pyg- 

 iiiaeus), which has just been brought to us 

 l)y Mr. Gustave Sebille from the small bit of 

 territory north of the Congo that is known as 

 Portuguese Congo. These additions bring the 

 total number of our man-like apes up to seven, 

 all of which are in excellent health. 



In addition to the chimpanzee noted above, 

 Mr. Sebille brought us a fine lot of white- 

 nosed, mustache, patas and other monkeys be- 

 longing to the genus Ccrcopithccus. They 

 make a striking and attractive exhibit. 



* * * 



The strange combination of an African 

 meerkat and a ground squirrel living in the 

 same cage in perfect harmony continues in the 

 Small-Mammal House. Both of these animals 

 were caught when very young, and were 

 reared together. The meerkat is closely allied 

 to the Indian mongoose and is by nature the 

 deadly enemy of all small rodents. At feed- 

 ing time, these little animals appear to become 

 confused in their natural and respective diets 

 The squirrel may often be observed to eat raw 

 meat, and the viverrine to paw over the vege- 

 tables that are supplied for its cagemate. 



* * * 



The big and richly-colored Indian squirrels, 

 represented in the Small-Mammal House by 

 the Malabar squirrel, the white-headed squirrel 

 and the black Indian squirrel, are about as 

 playful and amusing in their antics as 

 monkeys. They stand upon their hind feet 

 and box with each other, swing head down- 

 ward from the branches in their cages, and go 



