ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN* 



The extent of this work 

 may be seen by a glance at 

 the ground plan of the 

 building on page 1580 of 

 this Bulletin. 



The enlargement of the 

 exhibition tanks constitutes 

 the most pronounced im- 

 provement made in the 

 Aquarium d u ring recent 

 years, and the increased 

 swimming space afforded 

 has been directly beneficial 

 to their living occupants. 



Attendance. — The total 

 number of persons who vis- 

 ited the New York Aqua- 

 rium in 1917 was 1,595.118. 



an increase over the preceding year of 95,451. 



Fuel saving at the Aquarium. — In compliance 

 with the orders of the Fuel Administrator, the 

 Aquarium was closed to visitors on January 18 

 to 2'1 inclusive. It was also closed on the Mon- 

 day following. Steam heat was cut off all parts 

 of the building, leaving it about as cold /is a 

 barn with the roof off. Just enough steam was 

 generated to keep the pumps going and warm 

 the water for tropical species that would other- 

 wise have been lost. The engineer states that 

 there was a saving in coal of about fifty per 

 cent. The employes were on duty and kept 

 warm by engaging in vigorous house-cleaning. 



Bird Visitors at Sea. — Most of the land birds 

 that alight on vessels at sea, do so for the pur- 

 pose of resting. But some water birds, in no 

 way under the necessity of finding a dry perch. 

 often make themselves quite at home on a ves- 

 sel cruising near their nesting rocks. This is 

 a common trait of the various species of gan- 

 nets (Sula) called boobies. During the investi- 

 gations of the U. S. Fisheries Steamship Alba- 

 tross in the Gulf of California, boobies often 

 rested on the rigging of the vessel, especially 

 when the vessel was working about the rocky 

 islets where they breed in great numbers, There 

 is little reason to believe the booby the stupid 

 fowl sailors have always credited it with being, 

 since many birds unaccustomed to the presence 

 of man are quite fearless. 



The writer made the accompanying photo- 

 graph on the deck of the Albatross, while clouds 

 of black smoke from the funnel drifted past the 

 boobies perched on the main boom without dis- 

 turbing them in the least, and the sailors were 

 able to catch some of them with their hands. 



ATKA FISH OR ATKA MACKEREL 



The Atka-fish.— The Atka-fish {Pleuro- 

 grammus monopterygius) is usually called Atka 

 Mackerel in the Aleutian Islands, because when 

 salted it tastes much like salt mackerel. It has 

 long been the custom of traders among the 

 islands of western Alaska to salt small quanti- 

 ties of the fish for local use. As it is abundant 

 and easily caught there is reason to believe that 

 it will eventually be taken in sufficient quantities 

 to be of considerable commercial importance. 



It is indeed one of the little used species 

 recommended by the L*. S. Fisheries Bureau as 

 a valuable addition to the national food supply, 

 but the Aleutian Islands, lying about two thou- 

 sand miles northwestward from California, have 

 not yet been brought within the regular sea 

 routes of commerce. 



While cruising with the Fisheries Steamship 

 Albatross among the Aleutians, the writer had 

 excellent sport with the Atka-fish and found it 

 fine eating, both fresh and salted. It is of great 

 importance to the natives of those islands. It 

 is found throughout the Aleutian Chain but is 

 probably most abundant about Atka Island. The 

 Atka-fish is a handsome species, yellowish gray 

 in color, with black cross bars. It reaches a 

 length of eighteen inches, and a weight of three 

 or four pounds. 



The lied Snapper. — The Aquarium recently 

 lost a specimen of the red snapper (Neomaenis 

 ai/a) that had lived in one of the tanks for two 

 and a half years. The red snapper is the most 

 important tropical fish that comes to our mar- 

 kets, and the most valuable food-fish of its ge- 

 nus, reaching a length of two and a half feet 

 and a weight of twenty pounds. In 1903 thir- 



