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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



GREAT SULrHUR-CRESTED COCKATOO. 



echoing canyons of its native haunts, carries for 

 miles. Five hundred species the entire Family 

 reckons, embracing the macaws, the parrakeets, 

 the brilliant lories, the green-garbed Amazons and, 

 most beautiful of all, the cockatoos. Hardly a 

 fortnight had the grass parrakeets been in their 

 new home, the Bird House, before they began 

 nesting in a hollow stub. The breeding of birds 

 of this group will interest many; parrot's eggs being 

 to most of the visitors, almost as unusual a plienom- 

 enon as "hen's teeth!" 



While it is planned to have vines covering the 

 walls of the parrot room, and plants and flowers 

 over-arching the cages, yet the propensity of these 

 birds to gnaw and whittle with their powerful beaks 

 will prevent any special decoration of their enclos- 

 ures. Aluch more can be done in the cages of the 

 other birds for which this building is intended, al- 

 though it will be several months before the experi- 

 ments which are being carried on will be completed. 



The series of cages, occupying the north-east side 

 of the main hall, are devoted to the smaller finches 

 and weavers, most of which come from Africa. As 

 yet but few have been placed in the collection, al- 

 though even the most common are interesting — the 

 Madagascar weaver-bird in its plumage of flaming 

 scarlet, the cut-throat, so called from a band of 

 crimson feathers across its throat; the mannikins, 

 white-headed, black-headed and others, looking 

 more like little wooden images than like birds; and 

 the little striped zebra finches, weaving madlv for 

 a few minutes, and then climbing into their half- 

 made nest to rest. 



Here is a whole flock of strawberry finches, so 

 named from their color and from the seed-Hke white 



dots which fleck their plumage. Indeed they 

 scarcely e.xceed a large berry in size! Most ex- 

 quisite little fellows are the bib finches in liveries of 

 mauve and black. 



A cage of beautiful "Japanese robins" fill this 

 side of the hall with their soft, sweet warbling. 

 They are one of the few fortunate creatures which 

 have been endowed by Nature with a plethora of 

 delightful characteristics — plumage, song, form, all 

 are admirable. The law of compensation has passed 

 them by. 



Several cages are given up to the more common 

 birds of Europe, and again and again one hears 

 loud exclamations of delight, in many tongues, so 

 potent is the form or song of a bird to revive old 

 memories. To us, the English robin redbreast, 

 warbling softly from his jjerch among the green 

 leaves, is but a new and interesting bird with a 

 pleasing song: to the unknown visitor passing at 

 the moment it may be a tahsman, awakening half 

 a lifetime of memories. Similarly the chaffinch, 

 greenfinch, bullfinch, linnet, nightingale and thros- 

 tle are here at home and in song. It is pleasant to 

 see the wonder and interest of a crowd of people 

 around the cage of a roaring lion or a chattering 

 monkey, but it is better still to see the moist eyes 

 and intent delight of the same people when they 

 are held by the song of a little bird of the Vaterland. 

 An excellent place to read character, this — in front 

 of the redbreast's cage. 



The collections are as yet far too incomplete to 

 foretell the ultimate disposition of the various groups 

 of birds. The mynahs of India are well repre- 

 sented — sleek of coat, liquid of voice, with as ex- 

 cellent possibilities for acquiring human words and 



TOCO TOUCAN. 



