ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



957 



all the delicate animals have been housed for the 

 winter. During one of the coldest days an Axis 

 Deer was born, and there was great danger that it 

 would die from exposure. At first the mother quar- 

 tered the little animal on a bed of hay close to the 

 shelter house, but at night she guided it into the 

 warmest corner of an inside stall. This little animal 

 survived and is now doing well. It is with provok- 

 ing frequence that tropical deer are born in cold 

 weather, and often it is difficult to carry out meas- 

 ures adequate for the protection of the young. 

 Usually the mothers are extremely wild, and must be 

 handled with the greatest caution. During the cold 

 months the females of tropical deer often exhibit a 

 tendency to attack the males, biting them and beat- 

 ing them with their feet, and causing the keepers 

 great trouble in arranging the separations that alone 

 put an end to these family quarrels. 



The Yak Shelter. — Construction work shortly will 

 begin on the Yak Shelter, which will consist of a 

 low building of rustic stone, in keeping with the wild 

 country inhabited by this strange and spectacular 

 creature of Tibet. The walls of this shelter will 

 be constructed of the great blocks of stone that are 

 being blasted out of the ledges behind the old ad- 

 ministration building, where the work shops and 

 supply buildings are being erected. Powerful der- 

 ricks are assorting and piling up this material, and 

 it will soon be moved to the site of the Yak Shelter, 

 which is in the Fallow Deer range, near the south- 

 eastern entrance of the Park. 



Restaurant Improvements. — With the new year the 

 Rocking Stone Restaurant offers more commodious 

 accommodations to its patrons. The inside dining 

 room and the southern pavilion have been increased 

 to twice their original size. In the former, the light- 

 ing arrangements have been much improved, and a 

 series of large windows look out upon the virgin 

 forest of Beaver Valley. The location is particularly 

 pleasing. The southern windows face the bison range. 

 The interior finish is in white and pale green, and 

 the floors of the entire restaurant have been reno- 

 vated in order to be in keeping with the general 

 improvements. In summer large awnings will shade 

 the dining pavilion outside. 



A Hint of the Tropics. — The interior of the rep- 

 tile house at night is in marked variance with the 

 bleak conditions out of doors. In some way, several 

 species of tropical singing insects have appeared in 

 the building, probably brought in with the plants. 

 The stridulations of these creatures are remarkably 

 sweet, sounding like small bells of different tones. 

 The singing of these insects, and the heavy, humid 

 air exhaled from the conservatory plants, impart a 

 real touch of the tropics. We are sorry to say that 

 this aspect has been strengthened by the appearance 

 of a huge, roach-like insect that appears to do no 

 particular damage, but is not particularly pleasing 

 to any one save the frogs and the nocturnal lizards 

 which are voraciously fond of these pests. We are 

 rapidly exterminating them by ingenious traps con- 

 structed by the keepers. 



African Beetles. — After several months in transit, 

 a small tin box arrived from Africa containing speci- 

 mens for our insect collection. We dubiously in- 

 spected the contents, as the package came on a very 

 cold day, but it was found to contain five perfectly 

 healthy though much benumbed giant weevils. These 

 strange creatures, each about two inches long, are 

 of a dull brown color, with bronze stripes. Their 

 limbs are swollen at the joints, making the segments 

 appear as if they were crudely soldered together. 

 The appearance of these clumsily-crawling, mam- 

 moth insects immediately suggests a batch of me- 

 chanical toys, like some of the creations that amble 

 about the feet of the sidewalk vender. Our collector 

 sent instructions about the feeding of the specimens, 

 and although we were in doubt about the possibility 

 of obtaining the proper food, this was soon secured 

 through the courtesy of the New York Botanical 

 Gardens. Bulbs of the genus Crinmn appear to be 

 the favorite food of our new arrivals. 



Two Litters of the Fer-de-Lance. — Mr. R. R. Mole, 

 of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, who has sent us many 

 interesting specimens from that island, recently 

 shipped two very fine examples of the deadly Lance- 

 Headed Snake, known among the Creole-French as 

 the Fer-de-Lance. On the 15th of November one 

 of these snakes gave birth to fifty-seven young. A 

 week later the other specimen gave birth to twenty- 

 eight vigorous little serpents. They were born fully 

 provided with venom-conducting fangs, and are al- 

 ways ready to use them. They are particularly 

 interesting in the coloration of the tail, which is of a 

 vivid sulphur yellow. It has been alleged that the 

 little lance-head uses the brightly colored tail as a 

 bait for small frogs, wriggling the appendage in a 

 way that makes it appear like a grub or maggot. 



Ferocity of the King Cobra. — The most dangerous 

 specimen in the Reptile House, possibly the most 

 dangerous of our captives in the Zoological Park, 

 is the big King Cobra, which has been with us aboul 

 nine years, and has increased in length from eight 

 feet to slightly over eleven. The species which this 

 snake represents is noted for its intelligence. The 

 Curator of Reptiles believes that this is the most 

 sagacious member of any of the orders of the rep- 

 tilia. This snake has been known to actually attack its 

 keepers. It is with great difficulty that its cage is 

 safely inspected and cleaned. A special device was 

 designed for cleaning the glass of this cage. Strangely 

 enough, we have found there are two things that 

 curb the fighting spirit of this snake: It is afraid 

 of a small shovel or a broom. With these imple- 

 ments at hand the keepers find it possible to drive 

 the fighting snake into a corner of its cage, and clean 

 the glass by means of a long tube attached to the 

 nozzle of the hose, the tube having a sponge attached 

 to it. We have many visitors who regularly come 

 to the reptile house on Sunday morning to see this 

 cannibalistic serpent devour its weekly meal. For 

 a day or so prior to the feeding time the cobra may 

 often be seen reared up at the door of its cage, in- 

 tently watching the keepers through a small panel 

 of wire netting. 



