1014 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



OCELLATED TURKEY 



range, of late years little has been heard of it 

 and many considered the species extinct. A 

 sensation was caused, therefore, when the 

 agent of an enterprising London dealer suc- 

 ceeded, some two or three years ago, in cap- 

 turing several pairs of these birds, and in 

 transporting them safely to London, where 

 they were quickly sold at very high prices. A 

 little later the collectors of the late Carl 

 Hagenbeck secured a few specimens, which 

 were exhibited for some time at Stellingen. 

 It was from this lot that the Zoological So- 

 ciety secured the present pair, at a price con- 

 siderably less than half that asked for the 

 original arrivals. 



The Great Bastard. — Of the several species 

 of birds which have been extirpated from the 

 fauna of Great Britain, the finest is undoubt- 

 edly the great bustard. Once abundant on 

 the open downs of England and Ireland, this 

 bird is now seen there only as an occasional 

 straggler from the Continent, where it is still 

 fairly abundant in the southern countries. 

 The prime factor in the local decadence of this 

 species was undoubtedly the introduction of 

 improved agricultural implements early in 

 the 19th century. This led to the develop- 

 ment of the open waste country, which had 

 formed the home of the bustards, and their 

 decrease was so rapid that the race seems to 

 have disappeared entirely with the death of 

 two females which were killed in Norfolk in 

 1838. 



Although the bustard family is a fairly 

 large one, no species was ever represented in 

 the Society's collection before the arrival of 

 a pair of great bustards in October, 1912. 

 Unfortunately, the male succumbed very 

 shortly and proved to have been in an ad- 



vanced stage of tuberculosis. The female, 

 however, is now in the very best of health and 

 condition, and, although the species is a most 

 delicate one, we have every reason to hope 

 that the great bustard will be included in our 

 collection for some time to come. 



A Rare Turkey. — Among the rarest of all 

 our birds, the ocellated turkey of Yucatan 

 remains in perfect condition. A local irrita- 

 tion of the ducts of the eyes and nostrils gives 

 rise to periodic symptoms that have caused 

 us much anxiety but seem to have no serious 

 result. For a large bird and a member of a 

 family whose members are usually very hardy, 

 the extreme delicacy of this species is difficult 

 of comprehension. It is probable that our 

 specimen is the only female in captivity. A 

 splendid male is living in the Zoological 

 Gardens of London, but two females that 

 formed his consort at the time of the visit of 

 the writer in the fall of 1912 have since suc- 

 cumbed. 



OUR NIGHT HERON COLONY 



FOR many years, probably long before the 

 conception of the Zoological Park, black- 

 crowned night herons have been more or 

 less numerous throughout the north-eastern 

 portion of New York City. Attracted by the 

 plentiful supply of minnows furnished by 

 the many fresh water ponds and brooks and 

 the tide-water streams and marshes near the 

 Sound, the birds have refused to leave in spite 

 of the rapid development of this section of the 

 city. But there is no doubt that, of late, 

 nesting has been a precarious business with 

 them, for there is hardly a tree for miles with- 



GREAT BUSTARD 



