ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



lost all softness and have become small, horny, 

 and in general scale-like. The wings have 

 assumed, in rigidity, shape and movement, 

 the appearance of shark fins, and by means 

 of these strangely altered appendages the 

 penguins fly swiftly through the water and 

 capture the fish on which they feed. Their 

 eyes are flat and fish-like, such a structure en- 

 abling them to see more distinctly under water. 

 All penguins are found south of the equator, 

 and tlie great majority inhabit the frigid Ant- 

 arctic regions. 



Jackass penguins nest in large colonies on 

 the coast of South Africa, sometimes hundreds 

 close together on one island. At a distance 

 they bear a close resemblance to diminutive 

 human beings, and their fearlessness of man 

 makes it seem as if they considered him as 

 only a larger harmless edition of themselves. 

 Two eggs are laid in a burrow in the sand or 

 among a few shreds of sea-weed. Their voice 

 is a hoarse, barking bray, from which fact 

 they have derived their common name. 



In captivity, penguins are most amusing, 

 waddling about in their upright, comically 

 human manner, or diving after live fish in 

 the glass feeding tank. When swimming they 

 are very seal-like, the webbed feet being laid 

 flat together and used as a rudder to make 

 quick turns, while the wings are used alto- 

 gether to keep up the wonderful speed which 



they can attain in this element. No more 

 curious or un-birdlike feathered creatures will 

 ever be seen in our city, and those which are 

 now living in the Zoological Park are alone 

 well worth a visit to see. 



A complete count of the birds in the collec- • 

 tion of the Zoological Park is a matter which 

 takes considerable time, and is not undertaken 

 until the last day of the year, when the annual 

 census of species and individuals is made. 

 A system of monthly records enables the 

 Curator to report that up to December i, 

 1907, the yearly record has been an unusual 

 one. The death rate for the past eleven 

 months is just one-half that for the year of 

 1906. 



While no new installations have been made, 

 yet the collection shows a steady increase, 

 both in species and individuals. One year 

 ago there were 491 species of living birds 

 represented in our collections ; now there are 

 considerably over 520. Against 2,104 speci- 

 mens of birds last year, the Park now contains 

 over 2.400 individuals — probably the largest 

 and most representative collection of living 

 birds in the world. Details of the year's 

 progress in the bird department will be printed 

 in the forthcoming twelfth Annual Report. 



c. w. B. 



THE NATIONAL BISON HERD. 



A>! Accoun/ of the 'Transportation of the 



Bison from the Zoological Park- to 



the Wichita Range. 



By Elwin R. Sankorn. 



AFTER a lapse of many months, the Nat- 

 /-\ ional Bison Herd has become an ac- 

 complished fact, and the energy and 

 perseverance of the Director at last realized 

 in the establishment in the Wichita Preserve 



of fifteen of the Zoological Park's finest 

 bison. 



*In 1905, an agent of the Society visited 

 the \\'ichita National Forest and Game Pre- 

 serve to select a suitable location for a range. 

 The conditions proved to be all that could be 

 desired, and Mr. Loring's enthusiastic des- 

 cription of the wonderful possibility was a 

 powerful incentive to the consummation of 

 the plan. 



The problem of successfully shipping these 

 ponderous animals such a tremendous dis- 



*Report of the New York Zoologfical Society for 1905. 



