322 ANNUAL EEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



is an especially attractive species ; shiny black in color, with a white 

 breast and belly, and bright red bill and feet. The white storks 

 have several times nested in the great flight cage. 



THE FLAMINGOES 



These pinkish birds with long legs and neck and angular beak are 

 in many ways connecting links between the storklike birds and the 

 ducks and geese. Several species are found in parts of tropical 

 America and one formerly occurred in Florida, but the species living 

 in the pelican pond is one of the Old World forms, the European 

 flamingo (Phcenicopterus roseus). The birds thrive in this place, 

 but during the colder months when confined in the bird house they 

 are difficult to keep in good condition. 



DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



The most picturesque and ornamental of all the birds for outdoor 

 exhibition in zoological gardens are the true water-fowl, the game 

 birds known as ducks, geese, and swans. Numerous showy species 

 have been domesticated or brought to a condition of semidomestica- 

 tion and other more unusual species are successfully kept in captivity 

 under proper conditions. The group is cosmopolitan in distribution, 

 and no less than 67 species and subspecies are known from North 

 America north of the Mexican border. The order (Anseriformes) 

 includes besides the typical family of waterfowl a small group 

 of South American birds known as the screamers. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN WATERFOWL LAKE 



In the southeastern side of the park advantage has been taken 

 of the natural topography to reproduce in a measure one of the 

 waterfowl breeding lakes formerly so numerous in the Northern 

 States. For educational purposes, the birds kept in this lake have 

 been restricted to those species known to occur in North America, 

 as enumerated in the check list of North American birds. Border- 

 ing the lake on three sides is a tract of land sufficient in size to 

 furnish retired nesting places for the birds and suitable for their 

 varied requirements — woods, thickets, open brushy areas, cane, and 

 marshes. The whole tract is inclosed by a vermin-proof fence so 

 that the birds may nest and rear their young in safety. It is the 

 intention to show in this lake as many of the 67 species of North 

 American ducks, geese, and swans as possible, and a good beginning 

 has been made in collecting the birds. At the present time no less 

 than 250 waterfowl are on exhibition in the North American lake, 

 including 33 different species. 



