126 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1957 



gation of North American animals, inasmuch as this is the National 

 Zoological Park. The exhibition of exotics will not be neglected, but 

 an attempt will be made to feature such animals as Rocky Mountain 

 goats, Rocky Mountain sheep, prong-horned antelope, and other native 

 species. Variety of species will be emphasized rather than numbers 

 of individuals. 



This year, for the first time, an outdoor exhibit of trained birds of 

 prey was started. With the cooperation of local falconers, a red- 

 tailed hawk and a Swainson's hawk were taken from the Zoo's col- 

 lection and trained to a stoop and to the wrist. A duck hawk, or 

 peregrine falcon, already trained, was presented by a falconer. The 

 public has shown much interest in this new exhibit, where the birds 

 are to be seen at close range and with no bars between them and the 

 visitors. 



Albinism, a curious phenomenon, has been prominent in 1957, and 

 an unusual number of birds, mammals, and reptiles have their pink- 

 eyed representatives within the present collection — in fact, to an 

 extent seldom seen in zoos. The mathematical improbabilities of a 

 male and female albino black snake meeting in their natural habitat 

 are staggering, but such might be possible under zoo conditions. It 

 is hoped that some interesting genetic implications may develop 

 from these exhibits. 



ACCESSIONS 



A number of outstanding additions came to the Zoo this year. 

 The most important was a pair of white or square-lipped rhinoceroses, 

 (pi. 5, fig. 1), purchased from John Seago, an English collector, who 

 had been trying for two years to secure them for the National Zoo- 

 logical Park. They were the first ever to come to this country and 

 are still the only ones in the United States. Another purchase was 

 a pair of snow leopards, commonly considered the most beautiful of 

 the big cats. (PI. 5, fig. 2.) 



The Government of the Belgian Congo, through the Minister of 

 Colonies, presented the National Zoological Park with a fine pair of 

 okapis (pi. 6), the first ever to be exhibited here. They were flown 

 from Leopoldville to Hanover, Germany, for a 60-day quarantine and 

 then to the United States Quarantine Station at Athenia, N. J., for a 

 30-day quarantine. Upon arrival at the Zoo they were formally pre- 

 sented by Baron Leopold Dhanis, Counsel at the Belgian Embassy in 

 Washington. With their glossy, dark-brown coats and striped legs 

 they form an outstanding exhibit. 



An inconspicuous small black bird, with red eyes, which was ob- 

 tained from an animal dealer, turned out to be an ornithological 

 prize. It is a Colombian red-eyed cowbird {Tangavius armenti)^ 



