134 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



Dr. A. R. Wallace brought home two lesser birds-of-paradise, 

 the first exhibited in this country, though, according to the 

 Saturday Review (May 17), there was " a kind of zoological 

 tradition that a paradise-bird was once alive at Windsor in the 

 possession of the late Princess Augusta." Dr. Wallace's account 

 of the manner in which he obtained the birds and brought 

 them to England is well known, and forms one of the most 

 interesting portions of his " Malay Peninsula." When the birds 

 arrived they were in good health and very lively ; their plumes 

 were only about 5 in. long, the old ones having been shed, 

 while the new ones had not yet grown. 



At first they were exhibited in the upper part of the 

 Museum building, a room having been fitted up there, with a 

 cage of wirework 20 ft. long and 11 ft. wide. As both were males 

 it was found necessary to keep them apart, the sight of each 

 other, or even a paradise- plume waved in the air, exciting them 

 greatly. The Superintendent, therefore, had the cage divided 

 by a screen, which excluded the light, and the birds placed 

 in the separate compartments. They were afterwards removed 

 to the new aviary in the South Garden, and the room originally 

 fitted up for them was used for the more tender monkeys. 



Examples of the kagu were received from Dr. Bennett, and 

 close observation of its habits in confinement enabled Bartlett to 

 detect its relationship with the sun-bittern. His conclusion was 

 confirmed by the anatomical work of Kitchen Parker and Murie. 

 Both birds are the relics of generalised forms related to the 

 rails. Professor Newton has noted that in moments of excite- 

 ment both birds abandon their ordinary placid demeanour and 

 execute a variety of violent gesticulations, dancing round 

 and holding the tip of the tail or one of the wings by the tip 

 of the bill. 



From this year dates a successful experiment in acclima- 

 tisation at the Antipodes. The Council purchased some young 

 red deer and shipped them to New Zealand for Sir George Grey^ 

 then endeavouring to introduce this species into the colony. At 

 the scientific meeting of November 18, 1902, Dr. Henry Woodward 

 reported that the herd in the Otago district numbered from four 

 to five thousand, and that there were several similar herds in 

 other parts of New Zealand. Quoting from the current report 



