ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



INDIAN ELEPHANT WITH SIDE-GROWING TUSKS 

 Shot by Charles Theobald, Mysore, S. India. 



ITEMS OF INTEREST 

 Tit) Raymond L. Ditmars. 



Improved Small-Mammal Cages. — A complete 

 outfit of new cages has been built in the Small 

 Mammal House by our own construction force, 

 and this building, with its varied and elaborate 

 collections, is now in much better shape than 

 when it was quite new. These latest specimens 

 of cage work quite successfully solve the old 

 problem of lighting, drainage and sanitary 

 floors, for the housing and display of the small- 

 er mammals. The disagreeable odors usually 

 existing in such buildings have been almost 

 eliminated, and the air purified by electrical ma- 

 chines producing a flow of ozone. While a large 

 series of small-mammals is difficult to maintain 

 at a high standard, even in normal times, the 

 present market conditions render purchases 

 extra difficult. 



The good condition of the collections in this 

 building speak well for sanitary conditions and 

 for the efficiency of the keepers in charge. 



A Hare Arrival. — In these days of animal em- 

 bargos, we were particularly fortunate in ob- 

 taining a specimen of the echidna, of Australia. 

 There are two families of mammals, whose 

 members lay eggs, and from these their young 

 are hatched as are those of birds. They form 

 the lowest order of mammals, and appear to 

 form a sort of connecting link between the 

 mammals and birds. The Australian echidna is 

 an odd, flat-bodied animal, covered with heavy 

 quills. When alarmed it rolls into a bristling 

 ball. Its snout is much like the beak of a mer- 

 ganser duck, and it is provided with an enor- 

 mously elongated tongue, which is used in 

 catching ants. 



A "Horned" Rattlesnake. — We have recent- 

 ly received another decorated rattlesnake, which 

 is the result of rather clever surgical work by 

 Indians. This specimen arrived from Browns- 

 ville, Texas, as the gift of W. A. Snake King. 

 who makes a specialty of collecting and selling 

 rattlesnakes, and who at times has hundreds of 

 these reptiles in corrals on his ranch. Certain 



