ZOOLOCiirAI, SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1247 



THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK AND THE 

 NATIONAL GUARD. 



IN response to an application from Robert 

 Lansdowne, of the Zoological Park force, 

 who is a corporal in the 12th New York Infan- 

 try, the Director of the Zoological Park has re- 

 ceived the following letter from the Cliairmau 

 of the Executive Committee: 



New York. June H. l!tl.') 

 Dear Dr. Hornaday: 



I enclose a communication from Corporal 

 Robert Lansdowne. I have no hesitation in ruling, on 

 behalf of the Society, that a part of the burden of the 

 military duty required by the State to ([ualify in the 

 militia, should be assumed by the City and the .Society 

 without qualification, and I wish you would inform Cor- 

 ppral Lansdowne that his serving in camp will not in 

 any way interfere with his regular vacation with pay. 

 In other words, for such time as he is required by law to 

 .serve in training, he will be granted leave of absence with 

 full pay. 



Yours very truly, 



Madison Grant, ('hainiiuii. 



It is to be expected that all the institutions 

 and departments of the Cit}' and State of New 

 York and all public utility corporations will 

 share the view set forth by Chairman Grant as 

 tlie policy of the New Y'ork Zoological Society. 

 The duty of the American people to the Na- 

 tional Guard is in no sense a question, and there- 

 fore, it is not open to argument. 



If an individual possesses a degree of patri- 

 otism whicli compels him to make an enlistment 

 which commits him to risk his life in the de- 

 fence of his country whenever his country gets 

 into trouble and needs his services as a soldier, 

 then it is not only right but necessary that his 

 employers should help to bear a portion of the 

 burden that he assumes. Thoughtful men know 

 very well that men do not enlist in the national 

 guard for any pay that their services secure 

 in time of war. Everj^ National Guard enlist- 

 ment is based on good citizenship and patrio- 

 tism; and every National Guardsman should re- 

 ceive a substantial sum in time of peace as pay 

 for his service during his annual training. It 

 is the duty of every state in the L'nion to enact 

 a law providing for such payments from its 

 public treasury, in order that the burden may 

 be borne by the entire body of citizens rather 

 than by the few. It is not right that the loss 

 of time involved in annual training should be 

 borne either by the guardsman or bj' his em- 

 ployer. The expense should be spread on the 

 taxpayers as a whole. W. T. H. 



A WAIF FROM THE SEA. 

 A New Record for the White-Tailed Eagle 



MANY storm-blown waifs have found a 

 refuge in the Zoological Park through 

 the agency of mariners who have saved 

 their lives at sea. In former numbers of the 

 Bulletin, several such arrivals have been re- 

 corded, including a European heron, a Euro- 

 pean turtle dove, and a Greenland gyrfalcon. 

 No less than ten rescued duck hawks have ar- 

 rived at the Park during the past eight years, 

 and beside these we have received a second 

 specimen of the gyrfalcon, a gannet, an Amer- 

 ican bittern and several otliers. 



The latest bird to be gathered into our col- 

 lection by this unusual means, is a white- 

 tailed eagle or gray sea eagle {Haliaetus albi- 

 cilla), in juvenile plumage which flew aboard 

 the steamer Arundo, off Nantucket, on Novem- 

 ber 12, 1914. Two days later it came to the 

 Zoological Park through the kindness of Cap- 

 tain Wiedgen. 



The taking of the bird at this point consti- 

 tutes one of the very few records of its occur- 

 ence in North America, and apparently the 

 first one of its appearance within the United 

 States. 



The white-tailed eagle breeds in the north- 

 ern portions of Europe and Asia. It is resi- 

 dent also in Iceland and Greenland, but has 

 never been recorded as breeding in North 

 America. It has been reported from Cumber- 

 land Sound, in Baffin Land, and from Unalaska; 

 and in 1898 an immature bird was collected on 

 the coast of Vancouver Island. 



The number of small migratory birds which 

 are driven from their course during stormy 

 weather and thus perish at sea, is admittedly 

 great; but just why such powerful flyers as 

 falcons and eagles should get into difficulties 

 of this sort is not easy to explain. Possibly 

 they are able to sustain their flight for longer 

 periods, and thus can save themselves by tak- 

 ing advantage of the proximity of vessels. 



Those individuals of the white-tailed eagle 

 which breed in Greenland and Iceland are ac- 

 customed to fly southward through Europe 

 during the severe cold of winter. Probably the 

 bird secured by Captain Wiedgon was blown 

 off its course earl}' in the trip, so that it came 

 down the eastern coast of North America, in- 

 stead of the western coast of Europe. 



L. S. C. 



