212 THE ZOOLOOIOAL SOCIETY. 



was the original of Richardson's description in the " Fauna 

 Boreali- Americana " (p. 268). These were, no doubt, the earliest 

 museum specimens exhibited in Europe. The Ural owl, the 

 Caffre bustard, the rose-collared lorikeet, and Bouquet's 

 amazon were the most important new birds. Besides these 

 Mr. R W. Harper presented a fine series of Indian birds, 

 representing twenty species, mostly new to the aviaries. 



Krtiger's lion — which was really a lioness —reached the 

 Gardens in August. A good deal of interest centred in this 

 animal, because she had been presented by Cecil Rhodes to 

 the Gardens at Pretoria, whence, after a very short stay, she 

 was returned to the donor. Dr. Sclater was then on a visit to 

 South Africa ; and the animal was offered to and accepted by 

 him on behalf of the Society. There was no truth in the story, 

 which had gained currency, that the tail was cut, but the ears 

 were trimmed and rounded. The lioness was very tame, and 

 had been kept on a chain, like a dog. After peace was declared 

 in South Africa, she was sent back to Pretoria. 



Several species of antelopes bred for the first time in the 

 collection during this decade. The most important were 

 the waterbuck in 1893, the white gnu in the following year, 

 and the brindled gnu in 1900. Some interesting hybrids were 

 produced in 1894, which had Selous' antelope for sire and the 

 West African bush-buck"^ for dam. 



Shortly after the arrival of the Surinam toads, considerable 

 interest was aroused by the fact that one of the females carried 

 eggs on her back. According to popular belief the females 

 came to land to deposit their eggs, which were then placed 

 on their back by the male. The first part of the story 

 seemed improbable, for the toads never left the large tank in 

 which they were kept. The following letter from Bartlett 

 appeared in the Standard of December 10, 1894. It is curious, 



♦ This name, used by Mr. Lydekker in the "Royal Natural History," and 

 "by Mr. Rowland Ward in his " Records of Big Game," seems more fitting than 

 that of "pleasant antelope," given in the Vertebrate List. A still better name 

 is that officially adopted while these sheets were passing through the press. In 

 the monthly List of Additions it is called the West African marsh-buck, which 

 tersely describes the locality and habitat, and implies the diagnosis of the generic 

 or subgeneric name Limnotragus, by which Mr. R. I. Pocock discriminates the 

 long-hoofed swamp antelopes from the typical bush-bucks. 



