NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK HOLLISTER. 571 



rather uninteresting in the zoo. The darker Tasmanian form {T. 

 fuUginosus)^ a much more handsome species is represented by sev- 

 eral specimens. The wombat {Phascolomys Tnitchelli) is a power- 

 ful heavy-set brute, with large head and only a short stump of a 

 tail. It is a burrowing animal and is said to live in small colonies. 

 This is an Australian species, but a closely related form inhabits 

 Tasmania. 



All the marsupials so far mentioned belong to a great division of 

 the order known as the Diprotodontia, in which the front teeth or 

 incisors are reduced in number and so placed as to serve best in 

 gathering the herbivorous diet used by the animals. We now come 

 to the more essentially carnivorous or insectivorous section called the 

 Polyprotodontia, in which the incisor teeth are more numerous (four 

 or five on each side of the upper jaw) and the canines are developed 

 after the manner of other flesh eating animals. 



The Tasmanian devil {SarcopMlus Jvarnsu) is as ugly dispositioned 

 a beast as he is displeasing to the eye. ISTaturallj^ of nocturnal habits 

 he is not often active in the cage. The Virginia opossum {Dldelphis 

 vlrgimana) is likewise of such retiring disposition that he is seldom 

 seen. A small relative, called the murine opossom {Marmosa 

 murina) is a native of tropical America and occasionally finds its way 

 into the United States as a stowaway in a bunch of bananas. One 

 recently found hiding in bananas in Center Market was sent to the 

 park. 



BIRDS. 



Birds (class Aves) are often defined as "animals with feathers" 

 and this diagnosis answers every purpose for popular use, since all 

 birds have feathers and no other animals possess them. No class of 

 animals has received so much popular attention and few so much 

 scientific study as have the birds. Almost any single locality offers 

 a large list of species and the variety to be found during the spring 

 and fall migration makes a study of the birds of any vicinity an 

 interesting and exciting occupation. On account of their great 

 beauty, interesting characteristics, peculiar coloration, or grotesque 

 appearance, most birds are popular as cage pets and the collections 

 in the Zoological Park are great attractions to the public. The great 

 flight cage near the west entrance, the bird house, the waterfowl 

 lakes, the eagle cage, and numerous smaller inclosures are used to 

 exhibit the birds to best advantage. Each variety is given so far as 

 possible the best conditions afforded by the natural features of the 

 park or the resources available for improvements. No complete 

 systematic arrangement of the birds is therefore practicable, but so 

 far as is convenient related birds are grouped together. Twelve or 

 more distinct orders of birds, according to recent schemes of classi- 



