14i6 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



Mammals 



W. T. HORNADAY. 



Birds 

 William Beebe. 

 Lee S. Crandall. 



SppartntrntB: 



Aguarium 



C. H. TOVVNSEND. 



Reptiles 

 Raymond L. Ditmars 



Published bi-monthly at the Office of the Society, 

 111 Broadway, New York City. 



Yearly by Mail, $1.00. 



MAILED FREE TO MEMBERS. 



Copyright, 1917, by the New York Zoological Society. 



Each author is responsible for the scientific accuracy 



and the proof reading of his contribution. 



Elwin R. Sanborn, 



Editor and Official Photographer 



Vol. XX, No. 1 



JANUARY, 1917 



H. CASIMIR DE RHAM. 



We announce with great sorrow, the death of 

 one of the Society's most valued members and 

 staunch supporters, H. Casimir de Rham, who 

 passed away on December 15, 1916. INIr. de 

 Rham was an Associate Founder and had been 

 a member of the Board of Managers since 1899. 

 He devoted his whole energy to the work of the 

 Society in its various fields, and it was greatly 

 due to his efforts that the Heads and Horns 

 Collection at the Park developed into a perma- 

 nent exhibit. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF RUFFED GROUSE 

 IN NEW YORK 



Until about two months ago the great ma- 

 jority of the sportsmen and game protectors of 

 the State of New York had rested confidently 

 in the belief that the four-bird bag limit law 

 on ruffed grouse, and the difficulty found in 

 shooting the birds in brush and timber, had 

 really been saving the ruffed grouse species on 

 a continuing basis. Very suddenly, and most 

 unexpectedly, the fallacy of this belief was re- 

 vealed during November, 1916; and today the 

 sportsmen of New York are in a state border- 

 ing upon consternation. 



One remedy for this deplorable decrease of 

 our finest upland game bird will be found in 

 giving it immediately a six-year close season. 

 This can be accomplished by petition to the 

 State Conservation Commissioner, Mr. George 

 D. Pratt. It goes without saying that such a 

 petition should cover the entire state. The law 

 provides that on the petition of a satisfactory 



number of citizens for a long closed season for 

 any species of game, or for wild life threatened 

 with extermination, the Commissioner may hold 

 hearings in order to ascertain the facts, and 

 then, if conditions warrant it, he may close any 

 district for any species that it may contain. 

 This method is much more simple and possible 

 of accomplishment than an appeal to the legis- 

 lature for a special act. 



The previous State Game Commission was 

 averse to granting close seasons in this way, 

 but it is believed that Commissioner Pratt will 

 view the matter differently. TV T H 



A GREAT "DRIVE " FOR BIRD 

 PROTECTION. 



The furious destruction of all killable game 

 still continues, and the struggles that the con- 

 servationists are making to save as much as 

 possible from annihilation each year partake 

 more and more of the methods of practical war- 

 fare. For example, the Permanent Wild Life 

 Protection Fund and the Stokes' Bird Fund of 

 the Zoological Society now are making literally 

 a "great drive," covering eighteen of the states 

 west of the Mississippi River, designed to save 

 from extermination and bring back the sage 

 grouse, other species of grouse, and the quail. 



At the same time, this is also an effort to 

 save legitimate sport from becoming an extinct 

 pastime, and to protect the rights of the small 

 sons of todaj'^ and the grandsons of the future. 



On account of the rapid increase of destruct- 

 ive agencies, and laws that are fatally liberal 

 to hunters, the upland game birds of all North 

 America are fast disappearing. Particularly is 

 this true in the West, where good roads and 

 automobiles now carry loads of gunners into ev- 

 ery locality wherein grouse and quail still may 

 be found. LTsually the hunters are armed with 

 the deadly pump and automatic guns. Dr. Horn- 

 aday estimates that already automobiles and 

 good roads have increased the perils of upland 

 game birds by 300 per cent; and New York 

 and North Dakota have prohibited the use of 

 automobiles in hunting. 



In the hope of arousing the legislatures and 

 the people of at least some of the western states 

 to the point of effective action. Dr. Hornaday 

 has written, and the Permanent Fund has pub- 

 lished, 10,500 copies of an illustrated bulletin 

 of forty-eight pages entitled "Save the Sage 

 Grouse from Extinction: A Demand from Civil- 

 ization to the Western States." The text covers 

 all the grouse, ptarmigan and quail of the West, 



