ZOOLCXilCAL SOCIETY BULLETLX 



'°5 



C(5lor which these two species of ducks (Us- 

 I)lay never could be artistically combined on 

 cloth or canvas, but in the jjluinasje of these 

 gorgeous birds each blends harmoniously 

 with its associated tints. 



Tlie mandarin has all the striking color- 

 nuilieys of oriental art, seeming to have just 

 tlown out of some Chinese screen, while the 

 wood duck's colors are more distinct and 

 in<liviih!al. The females of both species 

 are verv nuich alike, and lack most of the 

 brilliant tints of the drakes. The mandarin 

 seldom breeds in confinement, but its com- 

 jianion species breeds freely. Place a box 

 with a round hole cut in one side upon the 

 top of a ])ost. a foot or two above the water, 

 and it will not be long before the female 

 wood duck will build a nest of straw, and 

 line it with the most beautiful down in the 

 world — a mass of dark, cobweb fluff, studded 

 with pearly stars. It is an ex(iuisite setting 

 for the buffy-white eggs. 



How different in color and habits are the 

 \oung wood ducks from the mallard duck- 

 lings ! r)Ut these things are more interest- 

 ing when they come as surprises. We will 

 find that even ducks and geese can furnish 

 scores of interesting facts — in their plumage, 

 their language, and their habits. To select 

 one at random, watch the gorgeous livery of 

 the mallard drake after the breeding season 

 is over, when his strong wing feathers begin 

 to loosen in their sockets. They all fall out 

 at once. If. when in his native haunts, his 

 brilliant hues and helpless condition were 

 contem]joraneous, every hawk and fox would 

 mark him as easy prey. But nature takes 

 pity on him. and for a little while — only long 

 enough tn give his new wing-feathers time 

 to sprout and strengthen — the protecting 

 cloak of his brown mate falls u])on him. and 

 the two are hardly distinguishable. Then in 

 a few weeks the bright tints return, he preens 

 the last buffy feather from his iridescent 

 plumage and triumphantly shakes his wings 

 — again master of all his beautv and his 

 ])owers. 



Many of the facts iif the life history of this 

 and other ducks have been observed and re- 

 corded, but that need detract nothing from 

 the pleasure of rediscovering them, each for 

 himself. Emerson touches a deep truth when 

 he says, "The man who stands on the sea- 

 shore, or who rambles in the woods, seems 



to be the first man that ever stood on the 

 shore, or that ever entered a grove, his sen- 

 sations and his world are so novel and 

 strange." 



ATTEND.ANCE .AT THF, P.ARK 

 No better evidence of the constantly and rapidly 

 increasing popularity of the Park cotikl be offered than 

 the figures showing the attendance of the present 

 year, which have far exceeded all our estimates. 



A comparative table of the attendance for the first 

 five months of 1903 with the same ])eriod of 1902 will 

 be interesting to all our friends. 



These figures show the increase to June ist over 

 the same period of previous year to have been 214,910, 

 or nearly ninety per cent., exceeding by a considerable 

 number the increase for the entire year 1902 over 1901. 



May has been a record month in all respects, at- 

 tendance e.xceeding by more than 50.000 that of any 

 previous month — the greatest attendance being May 

 loth, when the number of visitors reached 34.030. 

 more than 6,ood above any previous day. 



If the present large attendance continues through- 

 out the year, as there is every reason to believe it will, 

 we may well expect the grand total to considerably 

 exceed a million. 



PUBLICATION'S 

 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT P.iper, 



Pape 



SECOND " 

 THIRD " '• ..." 40 " 



FOURTH •• •• ..." 40 " 



FIFTH •' " ..." 75 " 



SIXTH " " ..." 75 " 



SEVENTH " " ..." Si.oo 



NOTES ON THE MOUNTAIN SHEEP OF NORTH 



AMERICA. (Hornaday) P.ipcr, 



DESTRUCTION OF OUR HIRDS AND MAMMALS 



(Hornaday) 



THE CARIUOU. (Grant) P.aper, 



BULLETIN No. I 



liULLETIN Nos. 2, 3, and 4, 



HULLETIN No. 5 



BULLETIN No. 6, 



BULLETIN No. 7, 



BULLETIN No. 8, 



BULLETIN No. 9 ... 



BULLETIN No. 10 



Tlie publications are for sale at the O^cf 0/ the Socutj/^ 

 Strdet, The Zoological Parky ixiA The New York Aquarium. 



