ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



787 



RUSSELL'S VIPER. 



cajjtured. The representatives of one of these 

 are curiousl\- blotched, like a piebald horse. 



It is difficnlt to induce captive e-xamples of the 

 desert lizards to feed, and the specimens de- 

 scribed were not exceptions. After trying many 

 things we fonnd that the piebald specimens 

 would at first take nothing but brightlj'-colored 

 flowers. We now induce them to occasionally 

 vary this diet with tender leaves of lettuce. A 

 number of Rock Iguanas, with rings of sharp, 

 spiny shields around the tail, were among Dr. 

 Townsend's specimens. 



The most spectacular addition to the series 

 of lizards is a great Kabara Goya, or Ceylonese 

 JSIonitor, fully seven feet long. This powerful 

 creature represents the largest existing species 

 of lizard. Our intention was to exhibit it in 

 the open yards, but its prolonged journey from 

 the East had developed a Cannibalistic apjjetite. 

 and within an hour he had engulfed an iguana 

 and two small tortoises. This serious offense 

 was soon followed by a wandering inclination. 

 A keeper who had been detailed to watch the 

 newcomer discovered, as we had feared, that the 

 big lizard was able to rear high enough to swing 

 out over the curved guard attached to the fence. 

 We interrujjted the Kabara Goya as he stretched 

 out on the path for a sun bath, and desjiite the 

 vigorous slashing of his powerful tail, he was 

 soon transferred to an inside cage. R. L. D. 



NOSE-HORNED VIPER. 



CARE OF THE WALRUS. 



THF.RE is no animal in the Park that de- 

 mands so much time for its grooming and 

 feeding as the young Atlantic ^^'alrus. In- 

 asnnieh, however, as "Flip" apjjears to be in the 

 pink of condition, we feel well repaid for our 

 labor. From his weight of ItG pounds, when 

 he arrived here on September 17. 1910, he has 

 increased to !22 j pounds, and from his daily con- 

 sumption of nine pounds of clams when he first 

 came, his allowance has grown to twenty-eight 

 pounds ]5er day. His tusks are rajjidly develo))- 

 ing, and will be visible within about a month's 

 time. 



Flip's food consists entirely of elams and fish, 

 and from the latter the bones must be removed. 

 The walrus is fed three times daily, being given 

 three meals of clams per day for two days, then 

 two meals of fish and one of clams per day, for 

 two successive days, when the jilain-clam diet 

 again begins. Soft clams and codfish are the 

 only kinds of food that are acce|)table. It takes 

 some time to prepare twenty-eight pounds of 

 clams, or the varied diet of clams and fish de- 

 scribed. Each clam is examined in order to 

 eliminate a possibility of ptomaine poisoning, 

 and the fish is gone over in a minute inspection, 

 to remove all traces of bones. It takes over 

 two hours each day to prepare this animal's food, 

 and to this must be added the daily scrubbing of 

 the rocks surrounding his pool, and the regula- 

 tion of the salt water in the same. 



The salt water supjilied the walrus is an inno- 

 vation here. Last summer the animal was so 

 troubled with blood-sucking flies that his skin 

 became afflicted with sores, which for a time 

 resisted all attempts to heal them. With the 

 present summer we decided to try the effect of 

 salt water, believing this would harden the epi- 

 dermis somewhat, and render it less sensitive to 

 the attacks of insects. A regular supply of 

 Turk's Island evaporated sea salt was ordered, 

 and by means of a salinometer the water in the 

 tank was rendered of the same density as ocean 

 water. We immediately detected a difference in 

 the animal's swimming habits, and within two 

 months he had undergone a transformation. A 

 thick coat of bristly pale-yellow hair now covers 

 his previously almost-naked skin, quite changing 

 Ills color. He now appears quite immune to the 

 attacks of flies, and is really in the pink of con- 

 dition. With the ocean baths, and the prepara- 

 tion of his generous meals, the care of the walrus 

 is more costly than that required by our largest 

 elephant. " " R. L. D. 



