ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



feet, and it is the neighbor of Marco Polo's 

 sheep, the giant-horned argah, and the Si- 

 berian ibex. One of the last pictures painted 

 by the late Joseph Wolf was of an Ounce stalk- 

 ing a bunch of Ovis poll in deep snow. 



In its home country, this animal is by no 

 means exceedingly rare. Captain Thomas 

 Golding was surprised to learn at Shanghai 

 that sometimes as many as 2,cx30 tanned skins 

 of the Snow Leopard come to that port from 

 the interior of China in a single year. But not 

 one live specimen ever accompanies them. The 

 distance is too great, and the difficulties to be 

 encountered with a live animal in a cage are 

 too numerous to tempt even a Chinaman to 

 try to surmount them. As a result, the very 

 few specimens that have been seen in captivity 

 have either been brought from the Himalayas 

 down through India, or from western Mon- 

 golia, through Russia. Naturally, these ani- 

 mals are costly ; and the price of our specimen 

 was $900. 



To-day, there are only two other Snow 

 Leopards in captivity in zoological gardens, 

 one of which is at London, the other at Berlin. 

 Our specimen is a fine male, nearly full-grown, 

 and in perfect condition. It is about the size 

 of a medium-sized puma, but proportionately 

 the Ounce does not stand as high upon its legs 

 as a puma of the same length. From ears to 

 tail-tip it is very heavily furred. Its most con- 

 spicuous and striking feature is its enormous 

 tail, which is quite as long as the body. The 

 ground color of the pelage is a warm buff-gray, 

 on which is blended rather faintly large 



rosettes and spots of dull brown. The fore- 

 head is conspicuously high, which gives the 

 animal a very pleasing profile. At all times, 

 the attitudes of this animal are very statuesque. 



Being a creature of the snows, "Chang" has 

 been placed in one of the small outdoor cages 

 of the Lion House, where he will remain, 

 winter and summer, with the Manchurian 

 leopard as his next neighbor. He endured 

 his long journey without worry or distress, 

 and at the end of it walked out of his traveling 

 box as serenely as if he knew that he had 

 reached home. 



The Ounce is the most cheerful and good- 

 tempered of all the spotted Cats — precisely the 

 opposite of the black leopard, whose satanic 

 temper invariably matches its color. "Chang" 

 iE as good-tempered as a house-cat. and when 

 fed is as playful as a kitten with a live mouse. 

 Its daily ration consists of a chicken, well 

 cleaned and plucked, offered about six o'clock, 

 when everything is quiet. 



As soon as the food is handed in, the per- 

 formance begins ; and whenever the animal is 

 given the freedom of the huge, rock-furnished 

 cage next door, the sight is most interesting. 

 Up to the top of the rocks dashes the Ounce, 

 until the highest point is reached. Often the 

 chicken is thrown high into the air, and as it 

 falls the animal leaps over it. Sometimes it is 

 thrown or dropped over the edge of the rocks, 

 and "Chang" leaps after it — pretending that 

 it is alive, and trying to escape. After the play 

 is over, the chicken is taken to the water pan, 

 and carefullv washed before it is eaten! 



POISONOUS SERPENTS OF THE NEW WORLD. 



By RAYMOND L. DITMARS, 



CURATOR OF REPTILES. 



AT no time since the opening of the Reptile 

 House have the poisonous serpents been 

 so thoroughly represented by species from 

 various parts of the world. There are on e.xhib- 

 ition at the present time in the Reptile House 

 sixty specimens of poisonous snakes, representing 

 eighteen species. 



Of those which inliabit the New World, the 

 following species arc shown : 



Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake, (Crotalus adamatit- 



etis), Florida. 

 Texas Rattlesnake, [Crota/us aJainantcus alrox) 



Texas. 

 Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus conjiiientus), Texas. 

 Tiger Rattlesnake, (Crotalus tigris), California. 

 Banded Rattlesnake, [Crotalus horriJus), New 



York. 

 Ground Rattlesnake, (Sistrurus miliarius), Fla. 



Massassauga, [Sistrurus catenafus), Nebraska. 

 Copperhead Snake, [AncistroJon coiitortrix), 



New Jersey. 

 Water Moccasin, [Ancistrodon piscivorus), South 



Carolina. 

 Fer-de-Lance, [Lachesis lanceolatus], Martinique. 

 Bushmaster, [Lachesis ?nutus), Trinidad, South 



America. 

 Coral Snake, [Elaps fulvius), Florida. 



The venomous serpents of the New World are 

 represented by twelve species, ten of which in- 

 habit the United States. Of these, the largest is 

 the Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake, which attains 

 the greatest dimensions of any of the venomous 

 serpents of North America, occasionally meas- 

 uring seven, or even eight feet in length. The 

 specimen on exhibition slightly exceeds six feet, 

 and feeds regularly every week upon a medium- 



