1642 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



have believed that there is such a thing as tak- 

 ing even a war too seriously, and carrying the 

 rigors of war to unnecessary extremes. How- 

 ever, the continent of North America still is 

 open to us, and if we must hereafter be deprived 

 of all other faunas, we can and will specialize 

 on home-grown species. — W. T. H. 



mals requiring grain and seeds have not thrived 

 on the wild roots given them as substitutes. 

 — Hamlyn's Menagerie Magazine, London. 



GOLD MEDAL AWARDED FOR TREATY 

 ON BIRDS 



By tin Ass ted Press 



London, May 2. — The gold medal of the Roy- 

 al Society for the Protection of Birds has been 

 conferred on Dr. William T. Hornaday of New 

 York and Dr. Charles Gordon Hewitt of Otta- 

 wa, in recognition of their successful efforts in 

 furthering the treaty between Canada and the 

 United States for the protection of migratory 

 birds. 



W. H. Buckler, special attache to the Ameri- 

 can embassy who received the medal on behalf 

 of Dr. Hornaday. said: 



"This war. which lias shown us the value of 

 aviation, has taught us also as never before, the 

 vital importance in relation to food supply, of 

 that most experienced of all aviators, the bird. 

 Certain worms and grubs are the submarines of 

 the countryside, while the bird is the airship pa- 

 trol which detects and destroys these enemies. 

 Birds are a precious international asset. The 

 organized effort for their protection has been 

 one of the chief public services which Dr. Horn- 

 aday has been performing for the past twenty 

 years." 



TROUBLES OF THE BERLIN ZOO 

 Failure of Food Substitutes 



The quarterly report of the Berlin Zoological 

 Society shows that the wild animals there hive 

 not been able to digest the food substitutes pro- 

 vided by German science. The mortality has 

 been heavy. — the giraffes, the mandrill, the 

 chimpanzees are among the more valuable ani- 

 mals which have died this winter. — while the 

 general health of the surviving animals is not 

 good. The society expresses some doubt as to 

 the exact cause of death of the chimpanzee. It 

 is admitted that the dates and bananas and other 

 tropical fruits being unprocurable, the apes 

 were fed on a kind of biscuit made of musty 

 flour; but it is said they may have pined away 

 with grief at the loss of their keeper, who was 

 called up for the army. 



The carnivores managed to get on fairly well 

 on scraps from the slaughterhouses, but the ani- 



ITNAL RATIFICATION BY CONGRESS 

 OF THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY 



Once more the bird lovers of America owe 

 Congress a vote of thanks for its absolutely un- 

 broken record in the protection of birds. The 

 bill to provide for carrying into effect the terms 

 of the already complete treaty with Canada for 

 the protection of all migratory birds passed the 

 House on June 6. by a vote of 246 to 48. A 

 prolonged fight over the bill was precipitated by 

 an attempt to pump oxygen into the corpse of 

 the old state-rights fetich, which died and was 

 decently buried about fifty years ago. 



There was no amendment to the bill save one 

 proposed by the Committee in charge. In this 

 the Senate concurred, and the completed bill 

 was finally laid before the President, and 

 promptly signed by him. While the act carries 

 no appropriation for enforcement, the Agricul- 

 tural bill contains an item of $.50,000, which 

 was expressly inserted to provide funds until 

 special and larger appropriations begin. The 

 situation calls for at least ■T'200.000 per year. 



This extremely gratifying action renders the 

 triumph of the international bird treaty com- 

 plete, and disposes forever of all questions of 

 the constitutional right of the federal govern- 

 ment to take an active interest in protecting the 

 liinls of the nation from unjustifiable slaughter. 

 At last the humiliating spectacle of game-hogs 

 flouting the United States government on ac- 

 count of the weakness of a federal bird law has 

 ended. 



Viewed as a whole, this treaty, fully protect- 

 ing 1.022 species of North American birds from 

 the Mexican boundary to the North Pole, is the 

 greatest item of bird protective legislation ever 

 enacted in any country. 



The Canadian half of the treaty, and its cor- 

 responding enabling act. have been for several 

 months in active operation. 



WAR ON PARK VANDALS 



The army of park vandals is to be given a 

 hot reception by Mayor Hylan. Police Commis- 

 sioner Enright and the City Magistrates. The 

 campaign opened on May 28. by the promulga- 

 tion of this beautiful document, which covers all 

 the parks of Greater New York: 



