ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETV BULLETIN 



261 



will result^in a "ew bison herd, under national 

 ownership, which in a comparatively few years 

 will number several hundred head. 



THE STATUS OF BIRD LIFE. 



In iSgS the Zoological Society published certain 

 facts and figures relating to the general volume 

 of bird life in the United States, and its increa.se 

 or decrease during the previous fifteen years. The 

 figures showing the decrease were rather startling. 



Quite recently, Mr. E. H. Forbush has made 

 for the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 

 a similar bird census, covering that state and the 

 results have been published. It is of interest to 

 compare his results with ours. Based on the re- 

 ports of eleven observers, we estimated the decrease 

 in the volume of bird life in Massachusetts at 

 twenty-seven per cent. Out of 176 persons re- 

 porting to Mr. Forbush, seventy-one estimate the 

 decrease in the state referred to at figures ranging 

 from twenty-five to ninety per cent, and twenty 

 others report "game birds decreasing, but song 

 birds are increasing or holding their own." We are 

 very well satisfied with our estimate of twenty-seven 

 per cent, for the whole bird population. 



Up to the time of the Zoological Society's in- 

 vestigation, the general warfare for the better pro- 

 tection of song birds had been by no means strenu- 

 ous. But in iSgpand iqoo, things took a decided 

 turn for the better. 



The League of .American Sportsmen was founded . 

 Audubon Societies were organized in many states, 

 and the Audubon movement became a force of 

 great and far-reaching power. The A. O. U., in 

 1900, appointed a Committee on Bird Protection. 

 The passage of the Lacey Bird Law in igoo — chiefly 

 through the etTorts of the League of American 

 Sportsmen and its President — gave power to the 

 Biological Survey and to Dr. T. S. Palmer, which 

 has resulted in enormous benefit to the whole cause 

 of bird protection. 



The work of all these forces is at last apparent. 

 The good that the bird protectors have accom- 

 plished begins to be visible to the naked eye. Al- 

 though the game birds still are steadily diminishing 

 — thanks to the fact that about Si, 000,000 worth of 

 low-priced shot guns are annually sold in this coun- 

 try — the song and insectivorous birds are faring 

 better than they were in iSq;. Eight years ago. 



very few observers were able to report birds as 

 either holding their own, or increasing. Now the 

 ditTerence in the bird ranks is perceptible, and the 

 total is, in some localities, breeding up and slowly 

 increasing. It is a great satisfaction to be able to 

 make this statement. 



The bird lovers can at last take courage. The 

 fight is being won, by slow, but sure progress. But 

 let no man or woman think of resting, or laying 

 aside a weapon. The facts stated above are set 

 forth in order to show that the struggle is not hope- 

 less, and that the elTort is worth while. Pretty 

 soon, the makers of the deadly automatic gun will 

 discover that the bird lovers "have not yet begun 

 to fight!" The slaughter machine must be i)ro- 

 hibited by law, even though the machinery to make 

 it did cost $50,000. And with it shall go the 

 "pump gun," now in use, but far too deadly to 

 stay. \v. T. H. 



THE GIRAFFES. 



Our pair of Giraffes arrived at the Zoological Park on 

 November 9, 1903. Ever since that date, their health has 

 been perfect, and they have furnished very little cause for 

 an.\iety. The male has never missed a meal, the female 

 has missed only one or two. In their compartment in the 

 Antelope House, which is 19 -t 24 feet, during daylight 

 hours, they are almost constantly on the move. In summer, 

 their outdoor yard is utilized to the utmost, and the most 

 astonishing sight in the Park is to .see those vingainly 

 creatures, vast of neck and leg, playfully gambolling up 

 and down their corral. When the Hon. Edward M. Grout 

 visited the Park last summer, the male GiralTc "showed 

 off" by leaping fully three feet in the air, with all feet off 

 the ground simultaneously. 



The growth of these animals has been watched with 

 much interest. .Since their arrival, the female has pained 

 one foot and eleven inches, and now stands exactly twelve 

 feet high. The male has grown two feet ten inches, and 

 now stands thirteen feet six inches. There are good 

 reasons for our expectation that the male will attain a height 

 of at least sixteen feet, with a possibility of seventeen feet. 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 



Admission to the Park. — On all holidays and on Sunday, Tues- 

 day. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, admission to the Zoological 

 Park is free. 



On every Monday and Thursday, save when cither of these days 

 falls on a holiday, only members of the Society, and persons holding 

 tickets from the Society, are admitted free. All others pay twenty-five 

 cents for each adult, and fifteen cents for each child under twelve years 

 of age. Tickets arc sold only at the entrances. 



Admission to the Aquarium is confined to members on Monday fore- 

 noons. It is open to the public from May i to October 31, 9 a. m. to 

 5 p. M., and from November i to April 30, 10 a. m. to 4 P. m. When a 

 holiday occurs on Monday, the forenoon wilt be available to the public. 



Opening and Closing.— From May ist to November ist the en- 

 trance-gates will be opened at 9 a. m. and closed half an hour before 

 sunset. From November ist to May 1st, the gates will open at 10 a. m. 



