267 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. WIE le 
broods. The Undulated Grass Parrakeets (Melopsittacus undulatus) have only 
once bred, when they succeeded in hatching two nestlings, Of the order 
Anseres a pair of Spotted bill Ducks (Anas pecilorhyncha) bred during the 
latter part of 1885. Of the order Fulicariw, the Purple Coots (Porphyrio 
poliocephalus) have thrice bred at Alipore. Of the order Galline, the Black 
(Rollulus niger) and the Grey Partridges (Caccabis chakar) in the collection 
have frequently laid eggs, but would not hatch them. Some of the pheasants, 
however, such as the Silver (Euplocamus nycthemerus), the Lineated (EZ. lineatus) 
and Cuvier’s (EZ. cwviert), have bred and reared their young at Alipore. Both 
the species of peafowls in the collection (Pavo cristatus and P. muticus) begin 
laying in spring and continue doing so till the end of the raims. Of the order 
Casuarii, the Emu (Dromeus nove-holland@) bred and reared young ones in 
1885-86, Of the order Struthiones, only the Ustriches (Struthio camelus) have 
repeatedly laid, but have not yet succeeded in hatching out young, 
Animals are frequently imported from foreign countries to the Calcutta 
Zoological Gardens, and it has been found that, owing to the narrowness 
and dinginess of the cages in which they are confined during the voyage, to the 
want of precautions in the matter of providing them with the food and drink 
most suitable for them, and tothe absence of arrangements for protecting 
them from draughts and cold during inclement weather, much injury is 
done to their health during transit. When they arrive in the Gardens, they 
are found to be either in a miserable condition or otherwise disabled. From 
these injuries they never recover in spite of the most careful nurture, and 
after pining for a few months, they die away. A notable instance of this 
happened in the case of three Tapirs which were purchased at Singapore in 
July, 1883, and shipped thence in battened cages with open tops; “two of 
these animals arrived wounded and lame; during the voyage they made 
frequent attempts to escape, by climbing over the sides and biting through 
the wood-work of the cage. All Tapirs do not, of course, behave in the same 
manner ; but the above facts indicate the kind of precaution necessary for 
their transport.’ ‘Four specimens of the Blue-bearded Jay of Brazil (Cyano- 
corax cyanopogon) were received in the Calcutta Gardens in November, 1888, 
in the most miserable condition, and they never recovered from its ill-effects, 
and finally died in a month or two after their arrival. 
The Committee of the Calcutta Gardens have also instituted a system of 
exchange with similar institutions both here and abroad, under which they 
send away Indian animals to foreign gardens or societies, and obtain in return 
others not exhibited before at Alipore. In “ packing’’ these animals for trans- 
mission to foreign countries, the Committee have gained a good deal of 
experience as to the best methods of doing so—as to what sort of cages 
minister to the comfort of particular kinds of animals during the, journey. or 
yoyage, what arrangements should be made for protecting their inmates. from 
