SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT. 59 



of the hill, a third was built in the hilltop at its highest point, 

 and a fourth remains to be constructed next spring. A very 

 considerable amount of rockwork was built of weathered rock. 



Along the bottom and w^estern slopes of the ridge, wire fences 

 were erected, and transverse partitions of the same divided the 

 hill into four spacious inclosures. One of these is now occupied 

 by a pair of Barbary wild sheep or aoudad, another by a male 

 Himalayan tahr (wild goat), and a third is devoted to the pair of 

 mouflon presented by Alaurice Egerton, Esq., of London. In 

 their new homes, all these animals show off to most excellent 

 advantage, and seem like different creatures from what they were 

 when kept in ordinary flat corrals. The Page wire fences are so 

 inconspicuous, the value to the surrounding landscape of the rug- 

 ged, rocky hill is not in the least diminished by its practical util- 

 ization as a home for wild animals. 



The entire cost of this improvement has been borne by the 

 Zoological Society, but the macadam walk in front of it was con- 

 structed at the expense of the Ground Improvement Fund. 



The Raccoons' Tree. — To accommodate a very interesting Amer- 

 ican animal, the raccoon — many specimens of which have been 

 in the Park ever since the opening day, but poorly exhibited — a 

 very generous arrangement has been effected. At the south end 

 of the Bear Dens, and therefore in close proximity to the rac- 

 coons' plantigrade relatives, a thrifty young cedar-tree has been 

 encircled by a low iron fence with an overhang. Around the 

 trunk of the tree has been built a rustic shelter-house, and its 

 8 rooms are now occupied by 14 raccoons of various ages and de- 

 grees of fatness. The animals have an abundance of room, ade- 

 quate shelter from all kinds of disagreeable weather; they can 

 bathe at will, and except in cold weather, when snugly housed 

 in their winter homes, some of them are always visible to visitors. 



Neiv Buffalo Shelter. — Owing to the lack of permanent winter 

 quarters in the proposed Antelope House for the tropical hoofed 

 animals, the buffalo herd is again crowded out of its barn for the 

 entire winter. To provide for the buffaloes, the Society is now 

 erecting a spacious and permanent rustic shed in the southwest 

 corner of the large corral adjacent to the Buffalo Entrance. In 

 shape it is a segment of a circle, and when finished, as it will be 

 about January 20, 1902, will be of great value to the buffalo herd. 



The Pumas' House. — As a practical test of the belief that pumas 



