REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 83 



the road to the cross roads, to connect with the cinder path bordering 

 the lake. 



The work of .grading and filling around the old buffalo house and 

 the remodeling of the building for other uses, which was commenced 

 last year, has been completed. As reconstructed the building makes 

 an ideal shelter of pleasing design and furnishes house space for the 

 animals occupying the six large paddocks that surround it. The 

 Canadian Rocky Mountain sheep, the elands, and the Kashmir deer 

 are provided for in this group of yards. 



An outdoor cage and shelter, summer quarters for the chimpanzee, 

 were built near the north entrance to the lion house. This provides 

 not only for the better health of this interesting trained ape, but 

 makes it possible for larger crowds to gather about at the time his 

 meals are served. 



New paddocks were provided for ungulate mammals on the piece 

 of ground recently leveled by grading northwest of the llama yards. 

 Much-needed repairs were made on the wolf dens and to the lion- 

 house roof. 



A considerable portion of the pasture land near the office was 

 plowed as an addition to the garden, in an effort to decrease the cost 

 of feed for the animals. For the same reason horseflesh has been 

 substituted for beef as food for the carnivorous animals, with the 

 prospect of saving at least $6,000 on this item alone during the next 

 fiscal year. A portion of the nursery was fenced and breeding pens 

 for quail and other game birds were installed within the inclosure. 

 It is hoped that most of the quail of various species needed for park 

 purposes may be reared in this place and that important experiments 

 in the breeding of game birds may at the same time be conducted 

 without additional expense. 



THE PARK AS A BIRD SANCTUARY. 



The entire 169 acres of the National Zoological Park constitutes a 

 carefully preserved sanctuary for native wild birds. Every effort is 

 being made to increase the bird population within this area and to 

 give better protection to the resident species. During the past year 

 over 100 nesting boxes were provided for those species which com- 

 monly nest in holes in trees. These were made in the carpenter shop 

 at odd times during the winter months from trunks and limbs of 

 fallen trees with the bark in place. Attached to trees of the same 

 kind or with bark of the same color these nesting boxes are much less 

 conspicuous and unsightly in the park trees than square boxes made 

 from planed boards. Many of the boxes were occupied during the 

 summer by bluebirds, chickadees, nuthatches, wrens, and flickers, and 

 additional nests will be provided from year to year. During the 



