NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 135 



The Trumpeter Swan, (Cygnus buccinator), being the larg- 

 est bird in the aviary, and also snowy white, is therefore 

 the most conspicuous. Several fine specimens are shown on 

 the North Island, living contentedly with other species. 

 Some of these specimens were captured in Idaho, when 

 young enough to take kindly to captivity. 



The Black Swan, (Chenopsis atrata), of South 1 ^stralia 

 and Tasmania, is as glossy black, excepting its pi naries, 

 as other swans are white. It is a large and handsome bird, 

 and much sought by all persons who form collections of 

 water fowl. 



The Coscoroba Goose, (Coscorc-ba coscoroba), is a fair con- 

 necting link between the swans and the ducks, partaking 

 about equally of the characters of each. In size and color 

 it is very much like our snow goose, (Chen hypcrborea), but 

 it is peculiar in possessing very long legs of a bright pink 

 color, by which it is quickly recognized. Its bill, also is 

 pink, and the tips of its primaries are black. The Coscoroba 

 Goose is a native of southern South America, and a few years 

 ago specimens were so rare in captivity that a pair sold 

 for $300. 



THE FLYING CAGE, No. 4. 



This mammoth bird-cage is one of the wonders of the 

 Zoological Park. It represents an attempt to do for certain 

 large and showy water birds, precisely what has been done 

 for the hoofed animals, the beaver, otter, and other spe- 

 cies — give them a section of Nature's own domain. In this 

 they can fly to and fro, build nests and rear their young in 

 real freedom. 



Near the lower end of Bird Vally, as a sort of climax 

 for the Goose Aviary when seen from the north, rises a lofty, 

 web-like structure, in the form of a huge, gothic arch. It is 

 55 feet in height, 75 feet wide, and 152 feet long. The 

 whole structure consists of a series of steel-pipe arches and 

 purlins, the former eight feet apart, over which wire-netting 

 has been tightly stretched. 



The wire-netting seems peculiarly open. It is of the kind 

 known as chain-netting, which offers the least possible 

 obstruction to the eye. This cage is so large that a very 

 respectable block of houses, three stories high and of ample 

 dimensions, could stand within it without touching the wire. 

 It completely encloses three forest trees of very consider- 



