ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY IUJI,I,ETIN 



177 



THI-. Ri:SH ()l< WORK 



Tlll'l priiL'rani of new ini|in)\t'mcnt wcirk for 

 ]go4 is the longest for any year since iSqq. 

 The ])resent working season has been marked l)y 

 great activity in all directions, and also unusual 

 strain. At this date conditions are, in brief, about 

 as follows: 



The ostrich house will be ready for occupancy 

 about November ist. 



The >niall mamniai house will be ready aljout 

 Novenilier 15th. 



The large bird house is about three-fourths 

 complete. 



The .\siatic deer l)arn and its eight new ranges 

 are completed. 



The sewer lines, water lines, electric conduits, 

 the net-work of drains and catch basins, and the 

 Telford macadam surface of the south half of Baird 

 Court, are all complete. The entire surface has 

 been coated with tar, to give smoothness. 



The wrought-iron fence around the sea lion 

 pool in Baird Court has been erected. 



The .•\laskan totem pole and house have been 

 erected. 



.\ fifteen-foot concrete walk has been laid in 

 front of the re])tile hou.se, from the sea lion pool 

 to the wild turkey enclosure; and from thence on 

 to the fox dens the walk has been rebuilt. 



The concrete platform around the Lydig Me- 

 morial Arch has been constructed. 



Concrete platforms have been laid in the stair- 

 ways at the polar bear dens and Lydig Arch. 



(•ne-third of the service road has been resur- 

 faced. 



.\n adequate water supply has been provided 

 for the nursery and its buildings. 



The burrowing rodents' enclosures have all 

 been lloored with concrete, and new wire is being 

 erected for the whole structure. 



The rebuilding of the walks at the bear dens, 

 wolf and fox dens is in progress. 



.\n imjMJrtant addition to the Chief Clerk's office 

 has l)ecn built. 



bids for the new pheasant aviary are now being 

 tonsidered by the Park Department. 



The rebuilding of the remainder of the walks that 

 were built in iSgq will be accomplished at an early 

 date. 



.\ large section of the rough retaining wall re- 

 quired for the ea.st side of Baird Court has been 

 built. 



Stone has been hauled in for the construction 

 of a walk from the southwest corner of the fox 

 dens, along the elk range and llama house, to 

 the southwest entrance. 



The yards for the ostrich house are now under 

 construction, by our own force. 



The walks around the ostrich house and small 

 mammal house will be constructed immediately, 

 by our own force; and the walk along their west 

 front will be rebuilt, from end to end. 



.■\ camel's house will be erected forthwith, near 

 the southwest entrance, by our own force; and also 

 a small rustic shelter house in the mouflon range. 



Whether it is within the bounds of possibility 

 to complete all the above before cold weather, 

 remains to I)e seen. 



A \ ARItyrV OF FEATHERED FOLK IN THE ZOOLOCWCAI. P.ARK 



By C. WILLIAM BKKBE 

 N. Y. Tribune, July, 1904. 



WITHIN thf bounds of the Zoological Park are in- 

 cluded some two hundred and seventy acres, part 

 of which is in a wild, wooded condition, while much is 

 given up to the collection of animals and birds. The wild 

 feathered creatures, seeing the contentment of the captive 

 birds in their ample cages and ranges, respond at once. 

 It is as if they .said, "Go to, our brethren arc safe and 

 happy. This is the best home for us, near them," and 

 thereupon they choose mates and make their home within 

 the protection of the park's wire boundarw 



With the help of a friend, a true lover of birds, T have 



made as complete a census as possible, not of the birds 

 which we shot during the summer, nor of the nests and eggs 

 whichwe collected, for we did neither; but a list of the wild 

 birds which build their nests and successfully rear their 

 young in the Zoological Park. Our list numbers exactly 

 sixty-two species of birds — a remarkable number to be 

 found breeding within the limits of so small an area, and 

 esijecially as it is in New 'i'ork City itself. This shows what 

 protection will accomplish, while many other places of equal 

 area near by arc tenanted by a scant dozen species of bird. 

 Let us see what a walk in late June, or especially in July, 



