964 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 286. 



Mammals' Pond, Otter Pool, Antelope 

 Range and House, Prairie Dogs' Enclosure, 

 Burrowing Eodents, Small Mammal House 

 (temporary) , "Wild Turkeys' Enclosure, Rep- 

 tile House, Crocodile Pool, Bear Dens, 

 Beaver Pond, Buffalo Range and House. 



The Aquatic Bird House is very attrac- 

 tive with a large interior ilying cage and 

 an aquarium for diving birds. Adjoining 

 the building is the Ducks' Aviary and the 

 large Flying Cage, which it is hoped to 

 complete before the visit of the Association. 

 The Reptile House is the first of the larger 

 type of buildings to be completed and it is 

 a model of its kind, with an extensive dis- 

 play of tropical and North American rep- 

 tiles. The fine Crocodile Pool and other 

 well planned installations present a great 

 variety and departure from stereotyped 

 methods of exhibition. 



The city has thus far expended $125,000 

 upon the improvement of the grounds, and 

 recently an additional appropriation of 

 $300,000 has been approved by the Legisla- 

 ture but has not thus far passed the Board 

 of Estimate. With this fund it will be pos- 

 sible to render the Park one- third complete. 

 Upon the whole, the city authorities have 

 been very friendly towards this enterprise. 

 The only difficulty has been the inadequate 

 maintenance ; only $40,000 has been set 

 aside for the year 1900, whereas the Park 

 cannot be maintained for less than $60,000 

 in its present state of development, and 

 $100,000 when it is completed. As the 

 Park derives practically nothing from gate 

 receipts and all revenue from privileges is 

 devoted to the purchase of animals, it is 

 entirely dependent upon the city for main- 

 tenance, while the Society agrees constantly 

 to supply the animals and to proceed with 

 the erection of buildings as fast as possible. 



During the past year under the able di- 

 rection of Mr. Hornaday the administra- 

 tion of the Park has been thoroughly sys- 

 tematized and the service is very economical 



and effective. Three Assistant Curator- 

 ships have been established as follows : 



J. Alden Loring, Mammals ; C. W. Beebe, 

 Birds ; R. L. Ditmars, Reptiles. The As- 

 sistant Curators are energetic in their vari- 

 ous branches and it is the intention of the 

 Society, sooner or later, to promote them to 

 curatorships with an increase of salary. 



Great care has been exercised in the 

 selection of animals. With the exception 

 of a very few specimens all the animals in 

 the Park were caught wild when young and 

 these types are especially fine examples of 

 their kind. The Buffalo range is supplied 

 with 10 splendid bulls and cows from 

 Kansas. Most of the ranges are also well 

 supplied. On June 1st the Mammal col- 

 lections of the Park were made up as fol- 

 lows: 



Species. Specimens. 



Primates 6 10 



Carnivora 21 43 



Ungulata 9 28 



Eodentia 6 65 



Edentata 1 1 



Marsnpialia 1 4 



44 151 



On the same date the Reptilian collection 

 consisted of the following: 



The Bird installations are as yet far from 

 complete; 44 species are represented by 185 

 specimens. 



Chief attention has naturally been de- 

 voted chiefly to the raising of funds, to the 

 work of construction and of planning the 

 various installations, the establishment of 

 the many new features which will charac- 

 terize the future development of the Park. 

 The endeavor throughout has been to do 



