624 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



Sandhill and Whooping. The \\'hooping 

 Crane appears to be as rare as the California 

 condor, and its history in the Zoological So- 

 ciety collection has been much the same. Three 

 specimens have been exhibited. Of these the 

 first was killed by a dog. In partial return for 

 manv favors, the second has been sent to the 

 Duke of Bedford, and the third is thriving here 

 in solitary state. 



The Duck Aviary is for the systematic col- 

 lection of ducks, geese and swans, of which 

 the flock on Wild-Fowl Pond is the overflow. 

 About seventy species of these birds have been 

 exhibited, and a large number of species are 

 always living in the Park. 



There are probably only one or two other 

 places in the world where Trumpeter Swans 

 may be seen alive. The Tree-Ducks are well 

 represented — seven out of the nine known 

 species being now in the collection. The north- 

 ern end of the Duck Aviary has been given up 

 to herring gulls. Five or six years ago a small 

 flock of these birds began breeding in this en- 

 closure, but unfortunately they were extermi- 

 nated by an inroad of fierce minks. No fewer 

 than eleven of these really wild animals were 

 trapped in the Park during the next few years, 

 and they now seem to be eliminated. A new 

 lot of gulls has been obtained from Lake 

 Champlain, and it is hoped they will establish a 

 strong colony. 



The specimens of Pelec.\niformes which 

 have been in the collection, and the long lease 

 of life in captivity of these specialized birds, 

 is a matter of unusual interest. Every group 

 is represented : cormorants, snake-birds, gan- 

 nets. frigate-birds, tropic-birds and, of course, 

 pelicans. 



The collection of hawks, eagles, vultures and 

 owls, although an excellent one, is still with- 

 out a home, and has been temporarily housed 

 here and there, wherever opportunity oiTered. 

 The collection of New World \^ultures is com- 

 plete,* there having recently been added the 

 Yellow-headed \"ulture which, I believe, has 

 never before been exhibited in this country. 

 I brought home several of these birds from my 

 last expedition to British Guiana. 



Between thirty and thirty-five species of 

 hawks and eagles are quartered in the outside 

 Aquatic House cages, in the Ostrich House 

 and elsewhere. Among the most interesting 

 species are the Caracara, Lammergeyer. Bate- 

 leur Eagle, White Gyrfalcon and Osprey. 



Owls to the number of twenty-three species 

 have found accommodation in the outside 

 Aquatic cages. A whole flock of Burrowing 

 Owls has recently been secured. 



In comiection with the hawks, mention must 

 be made of a new type of installation recently 

 adopted, which has combined economy with 

 great usefulness. This is a series of medium- 

 sized portable cages, measuring eight by four 

 feet, by six feet high. In siunmer these are 

 placed on the grass in any convenient paddock 

 or range, and in winter on movable bases in 

 the Ostrich House. Hawks, owls and many 

 small birds have been kept in them with good 

 results. Species which scratch among the 

 grass for insects can be shifted every few days 

 to new pastures if necessary. 



The beginning of the perching-bird exhibit 

 was marked by the gift of a baby robin which 

 had fallen out of the nest, and was reared by 

 hand in the Aquatic House. The following 

 year fifteen species of native birds were thus 

 reared from the nest, but the group, as a 

 whole, had no proper home until 1905. In 

 that year the crowning exhibit of the depart- 

 ment of birds was opened — the Large Bird 

 House, for perching birds and their allies. In 

 this building there are at present quartered 

 almost two-thirds of the entire collection, both 

 of species and specimens. A single building 

 which will successfully accommodate no less 

 than 370 species and over 1,700 specimens of 

 living birds is one well worth visiting. These 

 birds are quartered in a single large central 

 flying cage, and in 124 wall flight cages, thirty- 

 four of which are outside. These enclosures 

 average four by five feet, by nine feet high. 



It is possible that parrots thrive equally well 

 in smaller cages, but all other small and 

 medium-sized birds, without exception, do bet- 

 ter and appear to far greater advantage in 

 these flight cages. Here the stratum arrange- 

 ment is carried out in almost every cage ; terns 

 nnd rails on the floor, thrushes and jays flying 

 and perching overhead ; trumpeters and small 

 quail below, tanagers and flycatchers above. 



It would be tedious even merely to enumer- 

 ate all the rarities of this houseful. In the 

 Parrot Hall, where some seventy odd species 

 of parrots and cockatoos have clambered and 

 shrieked to their heart's content, there are 

 three species worthy of mention, not only from 

 their raritv, but also because of their unusual 

 colors. The great Banksian Cockatoo of Aus- 

 tralia, with its black plumage and scarlet 

 tail : the huge Hyacinthine Macaw of Brazil, a. 

 study in blue with a beak like a lineman's 

 wire-cutter : and the dainty and unsurpassed 

 Spectrum Parrakeet. a bird with every color 

 of the rainbow in his plumage. 



To pass rapidly in review the "odd birds" in 

 this building, we find rollers, laughing king- 



See Zoological Society Bulletins Nos. 31 and 32. 



