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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

 Ghizeh Gardens, Egypt. 



THE GHIZEH ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



THE Gliizeli Zoological Gardens are a de- 

 liglit to the lover of beauty as well as to the 

 zoologist. Captain Stanley S. Flower, the 

 Director, deserves the greatest credit for having 

 brought order out of chaos, and with the able 

 help of his assistant, Mr. Nicoll, is building up 

 a most valuable and interesting collection of 

 African animals. It would be well if a similar 

 segregation of the indigenous fauna could be 

 made in all zoological gardens, as it possesses 

 a peculiar interest both for tourists and natives, 

 more than the usual heterogeneous assemblages. 



The Ghizeh Gardens cover an area of about 

 fifty acres and were once part of an old palace 

 garden. The beautiful mosaic walks and rustic 

 bridges bear witness to this former use. A 

 unique and enviable feature is the absence of all 

 provision for cold weather. The cages of the 

 birds and monkeys are open and portable. 

 This makes it possible to remove an infected 

 cage and replace it at once by a fresh one. 



The vegetation is luxuriant and the animal 

 and bird exhibits are so arranged that one 

 comes upon them unexpectedly, this one partly 



concealed bj- a grove of plane trees, another 

 aviary shaded by a mass of purple Bougain- 

 villia. 



Every pond and marsh near Cairo is dotted 

 with ducks, but one can rarely get near enough 

 to identify tliem before they are up .iiid away 

 wlien still far out of gun-shot. They circle 

 around and around and finally set out toward 

 the city itself. If we go to the Zoological Gar- 

 dens we shall discover their haven of refuge. 

 On a lake only a few acres in extent are literal- 

 ly thousands of ducks. The majority are 

 shovellers, paired and in full plumage, with a 

 lesser number of green-winged teal and a few 

 score of pintails. They sleep or preen their 

 plumage or come for a bit of bread almost with- 

 in arm's reach, but as twilight falls they will 

 betake themselves to the marshes outside, 

 changing in character from the tamest of ducks 

 to the wildest of water-fowl. 



So dry is the climate that the small bird 

 cages are cleaned only about once a year, a few 

 daily scrapes with a stick through the wire re- 

 moving conijiletely all vestiges of food or other 

 debris. 



