152 
A PATR OF CANARDS. 
birds found in such hot climates is an excellent 
provision of nature; as otherwise the putre- 
faction caused by the constant and excessive 
heat would render the air insupportable to 
human life. hese birds are familiar on the 
tops of the houses, which are covered with 
them; it is they who cleanse the city of all 
its animal impurities. There are few animals 
Inlled whereof they do not get the offals, and 
when this food is wanting they have resource 
to other garbage, and they can trace carrion 
at a distance of four leagues, which they do 
not abandon till there remains nothing but 
the skeleton.” In many of the vultures at 
the Zoo there is something to admire, but 
these insignificant birds are quite uninterest- 
ing and never utter a sound, except a kind of 
hissing noise, through the hole in the upper 
part of the beak. A peculiar characteristic 
of these vultures, In common with their 
group, 1s the absence of the voice organ in 
the lower part of the windpipe. Their heads 
being covered with a blackish wrinkled skin, 
bristling with short black hair, gives them a 
very uncanny appearance. 
Animal Life 
To find a “freak” at the Zoo is a 
scarcity, yet what was sent 
CCR as such in the shape of 
a pair of ducks, with the 
beak and legs of a fowl, could be seen 
running about in the beayer enclosure, 
opposite the Superintendent’s Office. 
The officials, however, do not seem to 
think they are a cross between a duck 
and a fowl, but simply one of those 
monstrosities produced by in-breeding, 
helped very likely by removing the 
webbing, which is easily done with a 
pair of scissors soon after hatching. The 
birds have now been removed, and I 
doubt if we shall. hear any more of 
them. I had an opportunity of handling 
one of them, and came to the conclusion 
that an inexperienced hand had clumsily cut 
away the webbing, leaving a trace of it 
protruding from the side of the toes. 
We. 
It is impossible in so short a space 
to give more than a few bare facts about 
some of the latest bird arrivals at the Zoo, 
but that the Society pride themselves on 
their collection of birds is an acknowledged 
fact, and that this is mainly due to the expert 
knowledge of Dr. Sclater, the Secretary, 
there is no doubt. I have heard it remarked 
by many Fellows, that if a feather of what- 
ever kind were placed before this gentleman, 
he would tell immediately to what bird 
it belonged. The Shah’s visit to the Zoo 
and his special admiration of the birds 
and commission to Superintendent Clarence 
Bartlett, are further proof of the beauty 
and variety of the Society’s collection, 
which is one of the best if not the best in 
the world. 
