NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK HOLLISTER. 587 



cubation period she is fed by the male through a small hole left in 

 the wall, but is said to come forth in a much emaciated and dung- 

 bespattered condition. 



In an inclosure near the big flight cage are some 15 specimens of 

 the great horned owl {Bubo virginianus) , one of the largest of the 

 American birds of prey, as well as one of the most destructive to 

 smaller birds. Other owls, including the highly beneficial species 

 known as the screech owl (Otus asio) and the barred owl (Strix 

 varia) , are kept in the bird house. 



THE PERCHING BIRDS. 



More than half of all the species of birds known in the world 

 belong to the order Passeriformes, frequently called the "perching 

 birds," and typified by the sparrows. There are numerous families 

 .and the vast majority of species are small or medium sized birds; the 

 largest North American species are the crow and raven. 



In some of the larger cages of the bird house numerous species of 

 this order of birds are shown. There will be seen many of the more 

 familiar native species as well as rare and beautiful exotics. In 

 near-by cages are some of the larger representatives of the order, 

 including ravens, crows, magpies, and starlings from various corners 

 of the earth. Among the most attractive of the smaller birds are the 

 numerous species of the finch or sparrow family of which the com- 

 mon canary (Serimis canarius) is a familiar member. 



The weaver birds, native to Australia, India, and Africa, attract 

 a great deal of attention ; this is especially true of the species known 

 as the paradise weaver (Steganura paradisea) which grows tail 

 feathers of great length in the breeding season. 



REPTILES. 



Reptiles (class Reptilia), as distinguished from mammals and 

 birds, are " cold-blooded." The temperature of the animal is greatly 

 influenced or even regulated by that of the surrounding air, or of the 

 water in which it lives. There is considerable popular confusion as 

 to the distinction between reptiles and amphibians, sometimes called 

 batrachians (class Amphibia), including the frogs, toads, and sala- 

 manders. 



From Batrachians, Reptiles differ in breathing by lungs during the whole of 

 their existence, and not by gills as do the former during at least part of their 

 life, and by the fact that the skull, which in Batrachians, as in Mammals, ar- 

 ticulates with the vertebral column by two rounded knobs or condyles, is in 

 Reptiles attached as in Birds by a single condyle. Unlike Batrachians, they 

 undergo no metamorphosis, being born in the condition which they will retain 

 for the whole of their life. In the majority of Reptiles the skin is covered 

 with scales or shields, while in Batrachians it is, with a few exceptions, 

 naked. (Boulenger.) 



