ZOOLOGICAL 
“Mrs. MeCormick’s stipulation that the land 
be used to establish a zoo representative of 
American wild animals was accepted.” 
THINGS WE HAVE MISSED 
“All hits are history, 
All misses, mystery!” 
Successful men talk little of their failures. 
We all feel what women call “sensitive” about 
the dreams that didn’t come true. But after all, 
are we not entitled to some credit marks for 
the desirable things that we vainly attempted to 
do for the greatest good of the greatest number ? 
For example: 
In 1901 we sent a vigorous young naturalist- 
explorer, J. Alden Loring, to Alaska, to catch 
for us living lambs of the beautiful white moun- 
tain sheep. Both the exploration and the catch- 
ing were conspicuously successful. The plans 
were good, the execution was perfect, and not 
one mistake was made. Two lambs were safely 
brought to the base camp, but the excitement 
of the capture and the carry down from the 
summits quickly threw the delicate little crea- 
tures into an ailment impossible to cure, and 
from which they presently died. Since that day 
we have never heard of a white mountain sheep 
in captivity. 
In 1912 we tried for the great and elusive 
white rhinoceros. We made an engagement with 
Newland, Tarleton & Co. of Nairobi, for two 
specimens at a large price, and they sent Ex- 
plorer Grogan to the Lado District to do the 
work. The necessary permit from the Uganda 
Government was granted, but it did not reach 
the explorer until the grass had grown se high, 
and the baby rhino of that year’s crop had 
grown so large, that captures had become im- 
possible. 
We have tried and tried for the giant panda 
of western China, often called the parti-colored 
bear (Eluropus), but it cometh not. 
Mr. Herbert Lang’s vigorous and finally suc- 
cessful effort to procure a live okapi for us, and 
its subsequent death from lack of milk, already 
has been described in the BuLLETIN. 
Our first effort for a gorilla was a total fail- 
ure; our second was only a partial success, but 
our third venture was everything that we hoped 
for, and more. “Dinah” broke all records for 
gorilla longevity in captivity, save one. 
At this moment we are guessing whether a 
great adventure in the widest wilds of South 
SOCIETY 
BULLETIN 15 
America is going to be “history” or “mystery.” 
We are after giant otter and giant armadillo; 
and but for the unspeakable ocean shipping sit- 
uation we would have scored tong ere this with 
the otters. The giant armadillos are a well-nigh 
impossible species, because of the obstacles pre- 
sented by their food requirements. 
We are also “gunning” for Indian rhinoceros, 
markhor, Uganda and reticulated giraffe, pigmy 
African elephant and the inland white bear, 
(Ursus kermodei). And these are by no means 
all. [W.T. H.] 
Tue Rurrep Grouse.—My snowshoes mak- 
ing no sound on the fluffy floor of woodland 
paths, I felt that I might stalk invisible and 
unheeded in the wilderness world. 
A ruffed grouse was the first woodland creat- 
ure not to see me. I stalked around a white 
corner almost upon him and stood poised while 
he continued to weave his starry necklaces of 
footprints in festoons about the butts of scrubby 
oaks and wild-cherry shrubs. He too was 
barred from the denser tangle which he might 
wish to penetrate. He did not seem to be seek- 
ing food. Seemingly there was nothing under 
the scrub oaks that he could get. It was more 
as if, having breakfasted well, he now walked 
in meditation for a little before starting in on 
the serious business of the day. He also was 
wearing his snowshoes, and they held him up 
in the soft snow fully as well as mine supported 
me. His feet that had been bare in autumn 
now had grown quills which helped to support 
his weight but did not take away from the 
clean-cut, star-shaped impression of the toes. 
Rather they made lesser points between these 
four greater ones, and added to the star-like 
impression of the tracks. The demure placing 
of star after star in that necklace trail was 
broken by a little fantastic passeul, from which 
he dropped suddenly on both feet, vaulted into 
the air, and whirred away down arcades of 
snowy whiteness and vanished.—Winthrop 
Packard.—Christian Science Monitor. 
Canapians To Graze Rerypeer.—In Can- 
ada the North American Reindeer Company, 
capitalized at $750,000, has obtained a con- 
cession of 75,850 square miles of land north of 
the Churchill River to graze caribou and rein- 
deer. 
This amounts to 48,000,000 acres, for which 
the government charges the nominal sum of 4 
cents an acre a year. The herds are being gath- 
ered by the company’s agents.—T'ribune; New 
York. 
