32 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



American animals which were rapidly becoming extinct are here pre- 

 served in appropriate natural surroundings. In a recent report I 

 called attention to a much needed improvement that should be made 

 in the erection and equipment of a laboratory and hospital in the park 

 whereby the welfare of the animals could be more thoroughly 

 guarded, and where investigations of a zoological nature could be 

 prosecuted for the increase of practical and scientific knowledge. 



The number of animals of all kinds in the park collections on 

 June 30, 1913, was 1,468, representing 154 species of mammals, 202 

 species of birds, and 31 species of reptiles, which are enumerated in 

 detail on another page in the report of the superintendent. The im- 

 portant additions during the year included a pair of young African 

 elephants, three dromedaries, a pair of cheetahs, several species of 

 gazelles, and other animals from the Government Zoological Garden 

 at Giza, Egypt; 7 ostriches from southern California; and 2 moose, 

 a male and a female, from the Rocky Mountains National Park in 

 Alberta. 



Among the improvements completed in the park during the year 

 was an outdoor parrot cage constructed through the generosity of 

 Mr. John B. Henderson, jr., one of the regents of the Institution. An 

 inclosure was also built for the ostriches recently received and one 

 for the wood ducks and related species. Mention should also be made 

 of the erection of a stone building, 24 by 40 feet, equipped for the 

 cooking of food for the animals by boiling or baking, and also for 

 cold storage. The building is abundantly lighted and thoroughly 

 sanitary, and is a great improvement over the inadequate quarters 

 heretofore used for food preparation. 



An appropriation of $20,000 was included in the sundry civil act 

 for 1913 for the construction of a stone-faced or bowlder bridge 

 across Eock Creek to replace the log bridge erected in 1896 on the 

 line of the roadway from Adams Mill Road. A contract for the 

 construction of the new bridge was entered into on May 29, 1913, 

 and work was begun soon after the close of the fiscal year. The 

 bridge will be 80 feet in span and about 40 feet wide. It will be built 

 of reenforced concrete faced with rough blocks of the blue gneiss 

 found in this region, the stone for the concrete being obtained in the 

 park. 



In the sundry civil act for the fiscal year 1914 provision is made for 

 the purchase of about lOf acres of land to extend the west boundary 

 of the park to Connecticut Avenue. The acquisition of this land has 

 been urged for several years as a much-needed addition to the area of 

 the Zoological Park. 



