ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



661 



SHOE-BILL STORK. 



Ghizeh Gardens, Egypt. 



The most interesting species of bird is the 

 shoe-hill, (Balaeniceps re,r), three individuals 

 of which stalk solemnly aliout near the house of 

 Captain Flower. When approached they clat- 

 ter their bills like a stork, bringing them gradu- 

 .•ill_v forward and downward until the}' touch the 

 ground. In spite of all accounts in books of 

 natural historj', the shoe-bills refuse to touch 

 shell-fish, and in fact all fish except a certain 

 species of mullet. In the same paddock are 

 two magnificent saddle-billed storks, reared 

 from the nest. The eyes, small side wattles 

 and frontal plates are brilliant yellow, while 

 the basal and terminal parts of the mandibles 

 are intensely scarlet, and the remainder black. 



Among the mammals, two from ISIadagascar 

 were the prizes, — the tenrec, a long-snouted 

 nondescript in apjiearance. and the fossa, 

 (Cri/pfopiocta ferox). This brought to mind a 

 yaguarundi in general appearance, but when it 

 leaped up and clung to a branch the resemblance 

 ceased. In its facial expression and the car- 



riage of its tail, it was decidedly 

 lemurine. The Director told me that 

 its method of progression varied 

 from plantigrade to digitigrade. 



The young white-tailed gnus, bred 

 in the Garden, are remarkable in ap- 

 ])earance, in that their horns are 

 straight spikes, pointing upward. 

 Tlie curved portion does not appear 

 until after the first year or two. 



^lany young mammals, and birds 

 either building nests or sitting on 

 their eggs, bore witness to the excel- 

 lent conditions of captivity, while 

 there were many wild birds breeding 

 it this time in the trees and shrubs 

 .1 Icing tlie walks. 



To an American visitor, not only 

 are the exhibits interesting, but the 

 Arab attendants, the veiled native 

 women visitors, the mosques of the 

 city beyond, all hold one's attention. 

 And wlien the Director, escorting 

 one out to the main entrance, points 

 to the reeds of the Nile shore, a hun- 

 dred yards away, as the repufed spot 

 of the discovery of the infant 

 "Moses," one feels that this Zoolog- 

 ical Garden is indeed one of varied 

 and unique interest! 



A mile or two away is the aquar- 

 i u m , containing seventeen tanks, 

 placed in an artistic artificial grotto 

 of cement. A huge electric catfish 

 from the Nile wins our respect when 

 we learn that he would be capable of giving a 

 fatal shock to a man. This aquarium has re- 

 cently been put under the direction of Captain 

 Flower. 



One other institution worthy of mention in 

 Cairo is the jNIuseum of Geology, again with a 

 collection representative only of African, indeed 

 of Egyptian, minerals, metals and fossils. The 

 credit of arrangement and labelling is due to 

 Dr. Hume. 



At the Museum of Zoology the Anderson col- 

 lection of Reptilia and Amphibia and the Bou- 

 langer collection of fishes are very fine, but the 

 lighting is so poor and the general labelling and 

 arrangement so inadequate, that the casual vis- 

 itor can gain little by visiting them. The visit- 

 ing ornithologist can profit much b_v looking 

 over Mr. Nicoll's excellent collection of skins 

 made at Ghizeh. 



I have intentionally omitted mention of the 

 great Museum of Antiquities, as my object in 



