ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY iU [.I,|- UN 



3°9 



palms, cinnamon, lemon and orange trees 

 (the latter in full blossom), Norfolk Island 

 pine, creeping fig, shingle plant, bougainvillea, 

 Chinese yam, alamanda, Boston ferns, 

 clereodendron. and other vines. Cabbage 

 palms stretch wide their feathery frunds, and 

 the wide-spreading bamboo stalks have tlour- 

 ished so that they now touch the roof. Fre- 

 quent judicious and scientific spraying has 

 completely overcome the dust objection ; so 

 instead of a few "hanging-baskets and hard\- 

 evergreen bushes." which must be replaced 

 "once a week or every fortnight." we have 

 foliage growing so rapidly and well that it 

 has been necessary to cut away more than one 

 leafy branch to clear the front of a cage. 



So closely did we gauge the groups which 

 would here find housing, that every group 

 quoted in my paper in the July, 1905, Bul- 

 letin, is now represented by from one to one 

 hundred and fifty individuals, with the sol: 

 exception of the bower-birds and sand- 

 grouse, of which we have not as yet been able 

 to secure specimens. 



Ten partitions have been removed from 

 cages in various parts of the building, their 

 removal throwing two or three cages together. 

 and further attesting the value of flight cages 

 of moderate size. In fact, these have proved 

 successful in every way. With all the con- 

 stant moving about of birds, and the frequent 

 disturbances incident upon the first year in a 

 new building, a number of birds have nested 

 and raised young — doves, pigeons, parrakeets 

 and finches. 



The critic can hardly have seen parrots i;i 

 a wild state if he says they seldom fly for the 

 pure love of flying. My lasting impression 

 of macaws, parrots and parrakeets in Mexico, 

 is of birds constantly on the wing, making 

 high, overhead, direct flights, or swinging in 

 large flocks around and across a barranca for 

 an hour or more. 



The complete success of our great outdror 

 flying cage for waders and swimmers, meas- 

 uring 73 feet by 150 feet by 35 feet in Jieiffht, 

 prepared us for a similar result in large 

 aviaries, protected by a roof of glass, which i< 

 provided with such generous ventilation that 

 in summer the tenants have all the advan- 

 tages of an out-of-door home. 



.-\s regards the difficulty of identificatinn. 

 I have found that most of the .\nicrican pub- 

 lic possess a large share of tli-'t curiosity 

 W'hich is so pronounced a ch-Tactc-istic of 

 many of our more humble brethren of the 

 earth. T have often seen people pass rapidly 



by several cages, each of which contained a 

 single species, giving but a glance at the label. 

 P.ut in the case of the great central cage of 

 the new llird House, wnere some 130 birds 

 live hai)i)ily together, running in and out of 

 the miniature millet fields, and flying around 

 the Norfolk and cabbage palms and cinnamon 

 trees, the task of identifying some interesting 

 member of the fifty-odd species offers itself 

 as a fascinating game. I'.very s])ecies is care- 

 fully delineated in oils upon an individutii ilc- 

 scriptive label, so that the task is not difficult; 

 and the result is, that considerable knowledge 

 of several species of birds is gained. Seldom 

 is a keeper appealed to for this information, 

 and this objection to large aviaries seems nil. 

 c. w. B. 



THK WHITE PEACOCKS 



Three snow-white birds have recently been 

 added to the collection of pea-fowl in the 

 Zoological Park. Except in the Arctic reg- 

 ions, and among sea-birds, white birds and 

 animals are very umisual, and it is among the 

 herons and their allies that the majority is 

 found. 



When albinism crops out in a creature of 

 the forest or field, it is an immense disad- 

 vantage, the white feathers or fur being a 

 brilliant target for the eye of every passing 

 hawk or fox. So when we see such a bird 

 as a snow-white peacock, beautifu.ly perfect 

 and immaculate as its plumage is, we may 

 be almost certain that it is only an albinistic 

 variety, brought about by artificial selection. 



Among all domestic creatures, white is a 

 common color, as in pigeons, fowls, horses 

 and dogs, there being in these cases no danger 

 of instant elimination of the abnormally 

 colored. 



Of all, however, it is most striking in a pea- 

 cock, not only on account of its comparative 

 rarity, but because we usually associate with 

 the plumage of these birds all the colors of 

 the spectrum, and when one of these birds 

 spreads wide its train of purest white, the 

 feeling comes that it is some shadow-bird — 

 a spirit peacock — which is strutting before 

 us. c. w. B. 



The attendance at the .\(|uarium (hiring the 

 month of .\ugust. was ])henomenally large, 

 aggregating 369.347. with daily average of 

 1 1. 021. On Sunday, .\ugust 19th, 27,000 

 jiersons were recorded, and during the other 

 Sundays of the same month, the attendance 

 did not fall below 20,000. 



