ZOOLOGICAL SOCIK'IV lU 



.KTIN 



267 



Aquarium. From this time until July ist tiicrc 

 was consiflerable loss, due ap])arentiy to the al .seiuc 

 of minute live food. 



.•\i)out July ist they were sii|)|ilic-(l u iiii (juaiititics 

 of moscjuito larv;e, but the lishes were scarcely large 

 enough to devour them. 



It was observed that a few of the larger in- 

 dividuals promptly seized the larv;e and soon suc- 

 ceeded in swallowing them. .\ week or two after- 

 wards, most of them were feeding freely and as time 

 passed \ery few dead fishes were to be found in the 

 tanks. This food was continued until October ist, 

 with more or less herring roe and li\er. 



Refrigerated water was used, and the fishes were 

 kept at the average temperature of 57 degrees. 

 About the first of October they were feeding so 

 freely on liver that the larva' were discontinued. 



There are now about two hundred specimens in 

 one of the large exhibition tanks, in tine condition 

 and growing rapidly, the largest averaging from 

 two and one-half to five and one-half inches. 



The rearing of the young whitefish was attempted 

 in the .\quarium two years ago, and it was found 

 that they fed \ery well on herring roe until late in 

 May. No attempt was made at that time to 

 procure live food, and the specimens dropped off 

 until less than a dozen remained. Most of these 

 were gone before the winter passed, three specimens 

 only living until the following summer. One of 

 these, a fine fi.sh about twelve inches long, remains 

 at the end of two years. 



There can be no doubt that herring roe is a 

 satisfactory food for whitefish fry for a couple 

 of months after hatching, and that with mosc|uito 

 larv.T a very large proportion can be carried through 

 the summer in good condition. 



The larva" were obtained by means of a gauze dip 

 net from pools and ponds in the vicinity of Graves- 

 end Bay. From different locations different sized 

 larva? were procured, and it is quite jxissible that a 

 search in other localities would have yielded a 

 smaller species of lar\;e which would ha\e made it 

 practicable to furnish the whitefish fry with smaller 

 live food at an earlier date. 



It is quite possible that larv;e could be made 

 available for young whitefish at an earlier stage by 

 crushing or cutting into finer morsels. 



It has been the custom each year since the fish- 

 hatching exhibit was started at the .\(|uarium to 

 retain small quantities of fry of different species 



lor exhibition luirpiises. The fingerlings from this 

 year's hatching consist of brook trout, lake trout, 

 rainbow trout, steelhead trout, black spotted trout, 

 and land-locked salmon. These were all fed, to 

 some extent, during the fry stage, on mosquito 

 larva' and at no time since the hatchery was started 

 has the .\(iuarium contained such tjirifty specimens 

 of the above-named s])ecies. 



The jjlacing of small quantities of rock salt in the 

 hatching troughs two or three times a week has 

 been found helpful in preventing fungus growths, 

 not only on whitefish, init on trout and other fry. 



C. H. T. 



The most important additions since October ist 

 have been of American birds. These include many 

 sj^ecies which have never been successfully kept 

 in captivity, such as barn swallows, water thrushes, 

 vireos, shrikes, kingbirds, and cuckoos. 



Five rough-legged hawks now in the collection 

 are just coming into the adult ]jlumage, showing 

 the characteristic broad band of black across the 

 lower breast. 



The collection of Cuban birds has become im- 

 jwrtant enough to warrant the giving up of three 

 or four cages exclusively to them. Never have 

 individuals of the Cuban orioles, rufous-shouldered 

 blackbirds, solitaires, trogons, mocking thrushes 

 {Mimockhla), sugar birds, banana-birds, grass- 

 quits, bullfinches (Mclophyrra), gallinules, bob- 

 whites, and sparrow hawks been exhibited together. 

 Almost all are peculiar to this island, which, lying 

 so near our own coast, is of particular interest. 

 Both light and dark phases of the sparrow hawks 

 are represented. The solitaires are now (mid- 

 December) just uttering the first notes of their 

 wonderful song. The bob-whites, compared with 

 our northern birds, are remarkably small and dark- 

 colored. 



A woodcock, a splendid northern ra\en from 

 Alaska, and a gannet in immature plumage are 

 other important additions. 



A fine male South .\frican ostrich has been added 

 to the collection of Struthious birds. 



With the remarkably varied collection in the 

 Hying cage of the new Bird Hou.se, a beautiful 

 horned grebe in winter plumage has taken up its 

 quarters — sole rejjresentative of the Order Fygo- 

 podes in the Zoological Park. 



