ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1275 



had excited the tiny creature to "sing." As the 

 habits and songs of these tropical amphibians 

 are little known, we added an interesting note 

 to our observations. 



Incubating Snakes' Eggs. — An exceptionally 

 large number of snake eggs have been laid by 

 specimens in the re])tile liouse during the latter 

 part of .June and througliout July. Placed in 

 damp sphagnum moss, at ordinarv out-door tem- 

 perature, the eggs of the greater number of spe- 

 cies hatch in about eight weeks' time. Snake 

 eggs are soft and leathery. They rapidly ab- 

 sorb moisture and steadily increase in size. 

 Some are of oval form, while others are much 

 elongated, really cylindrical in outline. They 

 are snowy white or very pale yellow. Most of 

 them have a smooth, satiny shell, but those of 

 the common black-snake and the southern go- 

 ])her snake, have the shell peppered with gran- 

 ules and look as if they had been rolled in 

 coarse salt. The little snakes make their es- 

 cajjc by slitting the soft shell with an "egg 

 tooth" which is in the form of a sharp spine 

 on the snout. This is shed shortly after the 

 reptile hatches. A slight majority of the snakes 

 lay eggs. The other species produce the young 

 alive. In both instances the young serpent is 

 ready to go in search of food as soon as it is 

 hatched or born, and receives absolutely no 

 attention from the parent. 



JVild Animals near Nexc York. — Despite the 

 rapidly increasing size of New York City, its 

 congestion and obliteration of everything that is 

 green except the parks, one does not have to 

 go far from the city to observe wild life. I^ocal 

 collectors and tjiose members of our statf who 

 go out on hunting trips in search of exhibition 

 specimens, bring us many interesting notes. 

 The following jioints of information came to us 

 during July, from altogether authentic sources 

 and in some cases substantiated with the s|)eci- 

 mens : About a dozen large opossums were cap- 

 tured in the northern portion of Bronx Borough; 

 several fine raccoons were trapped in Bronx 

 and Pelham Bay Parks ; gray foxes are common- 

 ly seen within the town limits of New Rochelle 

 and a litter of three came to us from that vi- 

 cinity ; several white-tailed deer have been re- 

 peatedly seen in the Eastchester section, within 

 the city line ; large blacksnakes are run over by 

 automobiles on Pelham Parkway within the city 

 line, and from barely ten miles north of the 

 city line we have received several poisonous 

 copperhead snakes and a large rattlesnake. 



Escape of a Beaver. — While noting wild ani- 

 mals near New York it is appropriate to men- 

 tion a non-resident that escaped from the Zoo- 



logical Park. This was a large Canadian beaver 

 with broad and paddle-like tail and lustrous 

 pelage. It was a fine specimen, weighing about 

 thirty-five pounds. As this beaver had lost a 

 leg in a trap, we trusted him to occupy a cage 

 without a top and here he lived contentedly for 

 a week when he managed to climb out. Know- 

 ing the animal's fondness for cutting down 

 small trees near water, we anticipated this bea- 

 ver would soon disclose his whereabouts by 

 starting to build a house of sticks or a dam 

 along water courses in the Zoological Park. We 

 were shortly much chagrined to discover that 

 lie was dissatisfied with our park conditions and 

 had migrated to the Botanical Gardens, where 

 trees and shrubs have definite ancestral histor}' 

 and value. 



We were convinced of the beaver's visit to 

 Dr. Britton's domain, by the description of a 

 visitor, who excitedly told us that "a sea-lion 

 has just crossed Pelham Parkway, going north! 

 Its tail had been run over by an automobile 

 and all flattened out !" 



This was a rather illiterate, but perfectly 

 plain description of the beaver, and we watched 

 for signs of damage in the Botanical Gardens. 

 The animal apparently went on a thorough tour 

 of investigation, hiding in culverts during the 

 day, and seeking a place of residence at night. 

 He finally settled in a small, decorative pond, 

 and started liis engineering work. This defi- 

 nitely located him, and we investigated his 

 would-be home. In one night he had gnawed off 

 and brought down two long shoots of a maple. 

 One of these was about twelve feet in length, 

 and he had dragged it half way into a culvert 

 draining the pond. From a clump of red ma- 

 ples, he had gnawed the bark from three trunks. 



We built a cage over the culvert, with a door 

 working from a trigger. To the trigger we fas- 

 tened a bundle of birch. The trap was satis- 

 factory in operation, and we drove up next 

 morning and removed it to the Park — with the 

 beaver in it. Despite the fact that he has but 

 one forelimb, he now occupies a covered cage. 



Tigers that Bathe. — Our Siberian tigers, 

 despite their adaptation for a cold country, ap- 

 pear to suffer little from the heat. It is not a 

 common thing to see cat animals bathe, but 

 these majestic creatures enter their large bath- 

 ing tank, lie in the water with only the head 

 ]jrotruding, and remain so for an hour or more. 

 They are extremely agile for animals of their 

 bulk, and their leaps and gambols are in strong 

 contrast to the dignified mien of the Bengal 

 tigers in an adjoining cage. 



