ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1131 



GHliAT l!ll.l,l:i) lillKA NKS1IN(; 

 The male bird i< mi lluMic-ii iii.iilinliii;,' lli. 



ZOOLOGICAL PARK NOTES. 



A'estitif/ birth. — In spite of the late spring', 

 breeding operations in the bird collection are 

 well under way. Among the waterfowl, Can- 

 ada geese, and wood and mallard ducks have 

 hatched numerous broods, while the cereopsis 

 geese are expected to hatch their annual fam- 

 ily very shortly. In the Flying Cage, brown 

 pelicans and white ibises are incubating. For 

 the first time in several years, snowy egrets 

 are nesting, and we are keenly an.xious con- 

 cerning the result. A pair of laughing gulls 

 have scooped a little hollow in the shadow of 

 a towering pelican's nest, and are incubating 

 two eggs. An old cocoi heron, which has passed 

 the last five summers in the Flying Cage, has 

 appointed himself their guardian, and drives 

 off any over-inquisitive inmates. 



In the breeding cages, white-winged, Chinese 

 turtle, Australian crested and pea doves, gray- 

 breasted parrakeets and various smaller birds, 

 are nesting, while in the large bird house, 

 black-cheeked love-birds are adding constantlv 

 to their already numerous progenv. 



By far the most interesting event of the sea- 

 son is the nesting of a pair of great-billed 

 rheas. During the latter part of May, the birds 

 commenced to show signs of breeding, and late 

 in the month tlie female de))osited an egg on 

 the bare ground. Keeper Snyder scooped out 



a suitable depression and placed the egg on a 

 lining of dried grass. The male bird, who at- 

 tends to all of tlie duties of incubation, at once 

 took charge. At present, the nest contains 

 fiVe eggs, assiduously cared for by the pros- 

 pective father. The female, seeming to feel 

 that she has more than done her share by pro- 

 ducing the eggs, takes no further interest in 

 the nest or its contents. 



Bairoic Bustards.- — The bustards as a group 

 are among the most intersting and uncommon 

 birds to be seen in Zoological Gardens. Al- 

 though generally classed with the shore birds, 

 they are certainly a very ancient family, and 

 their relationships are not perfectly clear. 



No member of the group is common in col- 

 lections, as all of the species apjsear to be 

 delicate and short lived, and morever, they are 

 very seldom to be obtained. The bird most 

 commonly seen is the great bustard of southern 

 Europe, of which a remarkably fine female has 

 lived in the collection of the Zoological Society 

 since October o, 1912. 



Aside from the great bustard, all of the other 

 species are very rare indeed and so seldom are 

 they to be seen in living collections that the 

 acquisition of any one of them becomes a note- 

 worthy event. It gave us much ])leasure, there- 

 fore, to receive from Germany, on September 

 29, 1913, two pairs of the beautiful little 



