1 lOi 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIKTY BILI.KTIN 



middle, take a bite from eacli of the freshly- 

 broken ends and tlirow the rest away. They 

 are both espeeially fond of uneooked ham and 

 also of roast or ragout of ehicken ; but they do 

 not relish fried meats, if they can get other 

 kinds; althougii sometimes the}' eat fried baeon. 



The universal notion that gorillas are vege- 

 tarians is, in my opinion, an egregious error. 

 Nearly all of my gorillas have been meat-eaters 

 and I have had abundant evidenee in the jun- 

 gle that it is a general habit, A fact well 

 worthy of notice is that almost every item of 

 vegetable food chosen by the gorilla in a wild 

 state is of a distinctly bitter, acid or pungent 

 taste, and some are even acrid, I know many 

 of the plants that constitute a large part of 

 their diet, and I do not know of one with a 

 sweet flavor and but few neutral ones. 



This is ray first methodic attempt to change 

 the dietary of the gorilla ; and thus far the ex- 

 periment has been successful. Just what effect, 

 if any, the change may ultimately have on their 

 health and longevity, is difficult to predict, but 

 u)) to tills stage it appears to be salutary, 



R. L. Garner. 



Fenian I'az, French Congo Territori/. 



LADIKS' AND MEMBERS' DAYS, 

 Members' Day will be observed at the Zoo- 

 logical Park on .May 21, 1914. Good music 

 will be provided ;ind refreshments served. Ar- 

 rangements also have been made to serve tea 

 to the members of the Society on the afternoons 

 of May 28, June 4 and June 11, at the Ad- 

 ministration Building in the Zoologie.il Park. 



Ladies' Day will be observed on .May 1 !■■ 

 Hlli. 



RECEPTION AT THE AQUARIUM. 



A reception will be given the members of 

 the Zoological Society at the New York Aqua- 

 rium at 8:30 o'clock of the evening of May i. 

 1914. This is the first of such functions that 

 hereafter will be held annually. Music will 

 be ])rovided and refreshments served. Each 

 ticket will admit three persons; the bearer and 

 two guests. All responses should be forward 

 ed to the Secretary of the Society, 11 Wall 

 Street, 



FRANCE AWARDS A MEDAL TO 

 DR. HORNADAY. 



An event of recent occurrence in France is 

 of unusual interest to American protectors of 

 birds. On March 28, 1911, there was be- 



stowed upon Dr. W. T. Hornaday, at Paris, a 

 gold medal for international work in the pres- 

 ervation of wild life. In view of the numerous 

 enemies that the protection work of Dr. Horn- 

 aday has made for him, both at home and 

 abroad, the action of tiie two affiliated French 

 societies in making the award forms an agree- 

 able counterpoise. 



As given by the Secretary of the I'rencli 

 National League for the Protection of Birds, 

 the title of the medal is "Grande Medaille 

 Hors Classe," bearing the effigy of Isidore 

 CJeofi'roy St. Hilaire. It was awarded jointly 

 by the National Acclimatation Society, which 

 is really the leading Zoological Society of 

 I'rance. and the affiliated l-'reneli National 

 League for the Protection of Birds, "for inter- 

 national work in the protection of wild life," 

 Of course this "international work" relates to 

 the enactment of our law for the suppression 

 of feather-millinery in this country. 



In awarding this medal, the two National 

 Societies named have taken a very bold stand 

 against the feather trade of France and the 

 world at large. Before the award of the medal 

 was decided upon, the two Societies named 

 were approached by the feather dealers, and 

 requested to form a "Committee for the Eco- 

 nomic Study of Birds, " similar to that which 

 was formed in England bj' the feather trade. 

 After fully considering the facts and argu- 

 ments that were presented, the joint Council 

 of the two Societies reported, unanimously, that 

 "the evidence submitted to the Congress of the 

 United States .ind Parliament of Great Britain, 

 against the contiiuiance of the trade in wild 

 birds' jilumage, is reliable and conclusive, " and 

 the two Societies firmly declared themselves un- 

 willing to co-operate in any way in the forma- 

 tion of the dilatory Committee of Economic 

 .Study that was proposed. The ne.xt action was 

 a decision to award the Society's Grand Gold 

 .Medal of Honor to Dr. Hornaday. 



It was first proposed that the medal should 

 be awarded at the joint annual meeting of the 

 Acclimatation Society and League for the Pro- 

 tection of Birds, to be held on March 29, at 

 the Museum of Natural History, in Paris; and 

 the American Ambassador, Mr. Myron T. Her- 

 rick, had promised to attend and receive it. 



The President of the Republic, and the Min- 

 ister of the Colonies who was to take the chair, 

 had engaged to attend, with the Ambassadors 

 of several foreign powers. The plume-traders' 

 syndicate, having heard of this, apprized the 

 Government that if the medal was delivered 

 at the public meeting, "it was to be expected 



