ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1257 



was too low and the memory of the incident 

 still lingers. 



Irrepressihlc JVild Sichic. — The wild swine 

 collection in the Small Deer House now consists 

 of a Soutii African wart hog, a bush pig and 

 several specimens of collared peccaries. Visitors 

 often comment upon the rough condition of 

 these yards, which have often been repaired. 

 These animals delight to root and dig and have 

 exhumed rocks as large as cobble stones and 

 constructed wallows. The yards have been re- 

 peatedly filled and rolled, but the upheaval pro- 

 cess is continuous. These animals are particu- 

 larly fond of lying in a mass of rubble turned 

 up in recent digging operations. 



Prolific Prairie Dogs. — The prairie dog vil- 

 lage is now at its best. There appears to be 

 about one hundred j'oung dogs of various sizes. 

 There is much chattering and confusion as to 

 the ownership of the home burrows. A ludi- 

 crous sight results when the keeper steps within 

 the enclosure to distribute the food. There is 

 a dash for tlie holes, which results in individual 

 parents heartlessly ejecting youngsters that be- 

 long in other burrows. The excitement contin- 

 ues until all of the little prairie dogs have lo- 

 cated their respective parents. 



Rare South American Snalccx. — Within the 

 past two weeks we have received from South 

 America a fine specimen of the bushmaster 

 snake, fer-de-lance, two coral snakes, emerald 

 whip snake and the interesting Mussarama. 

 The latter is a smooth and glittering black 

 snake, about five feet in length, that preys upon 

 poisonous snakes. It constricts them to death 

 and during combats with venomous reptiles is 

 often bitten, but is immune to their poisons. At 

 least eight species of South American amphib- 

 ians have been added to the collection, as well as 

 a number of lizards. 



Silk IVorm Cocoons. — A very interesting col- 

 lection of silk worm cocoons is now on exhibi- 

 tion in the Reptile House. The worms were 

 raised from eggs, grew at a marvelous rate and 

 fed upon mulberry leaves. When the}"^ attained 

 their full size they were about two and a half 

 inches long and three-eighths of a inch in diam- 

 eter. They were of a bluish white and ap- 

 peared to be dusted with a fine powder. The 

 cocoons finally spun by this colony, are of a 

 soft and lustrous yellow silk. The moths will 

 hatch in about two weeks' time. While both 

 the males and females of the moths have wings, 

 the females are verv heavv-bodied and cannot 

 fly. 



R. L. D. 



A VISITING HERRING GULL. 



THE lovely plumage and graceful flight of 

 the Herring gull make it a much admired 

 creature, and for man\' years we have 

 wished to claim it as one of the unfettered in- 

 habitants of the Zoological Park. On various 

 occasions, transient birds have appeared not im- 

 pervious to the cozening influence of cut fish, 

 s])read for the delectation of our colony of night 

 herons, but never could we induce one to spend 

 more than a few daj's within our boundaries, or 

 to endure any hint of familiarity on the part of 

 visitors. In 1912, a young bird was reared in 

 the Goose Aviarj', by a pair of captive birds, 

 and when we allowed the fledgling to roam at 

 will, as soon as his wings could support his 

 small weight, we felt that the first step toward 

 the colonization of the herring gull had been 

 taken. But, true to the precedent set by others 

 of his obstinate race, he waited only long 

 enough to perfect himself in the art of fl.ying, 

 before setting out for a habitation apparently 

 more congenial. This unexpected result of our 

 plans put a decided damper on our enthusiasm, 

 and we gave up as hopeless all thoughts of a 

 colony of herring gulls. 



With the return of the birds from their north- 

 ern breeding grounds, in the autumn of 1913, 

 nothing occurred to revive our slumbering 

 hojies. But during the early part of the winter 

 of 191 f. gulls in unusual numbers were seen 

 )).issing over the Park on their way from the 

 Hudson to the Sound, and finally came the news 

 that several were feeding with the night herons. 



These birds, unlike their predecessors, 

 seemed to have little fear, and after a few 

 weeks spent on Lake Agassiz, in the companv 

 of the herons, one felt himself enough at home 

 to visit the Wild Fowl Pond. This he must 

 have found to his liking, for he at once estab- 

 lished himself there, and was to be seen daily, 

 performing the remarkable aerial evolutions of 

 his tribe, or sunning himself on the rocks along 

 the shore. Frequently, he devoted himself to 

 awkward but business-like diving for purely 

 imaginary fishes, rising above the water and 

 jjlunging beneath the surface with a persistency 

 and energy which, from its uniformly negative 

 results, caused much merriment to an increasing 

 gallerjr of visitors. 



It may have been the barrenness of the fruits 

 of this line of endeavor which caused him to 

 observe the ease with which the ducks secured 

 sustenance. At any rate, he soon began to 

 hover about the outskirts of the flock which 

 passes its leisure in begging tidbits from the 

 crowd of too-willing spectators. He could not 

 summon sufficient courage, however, to push 



