ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1029 



AN OLD CONDOR. 



As the result of a general organic break- 

 down, our old South American condor died 

 on February 26, 1913. after having lived 

 for nearly fourteen years in the Zoological 

 Park. With his passing the bird collection 

 lost its oldest member. A purchase from 

 the late Carl Hagenbeck, this condor 

 reached the Zoological Park on March 30, 

 1899, and even at that time was in full adult 

 plumage. As undoubtedly several years are 

 required for reaching the fully matured stage, 

 the age of this bird may fairly be considered 

 to have been a ripe one. 



Among the birds, the palm for longevity 

 must now be awarded to the female griffon 

 vulture, which reached us on August 23, 

 1902, and has thus lived in the Park for nearly 

 eleven years. This bird is in excellent con- 

 dition. She lays eggs and broods them each 

 spring without result, and it is hoped she will 

 exceed the record of the condor. L. S. C. 



ANT HILLS OF BIRD SHOT. 



The remarkable adventures of Munchausen 

 become commonplace by comparison with 

 those of the ant, for the feats of this hard 

 headed, iron jawed, persistent insect are 

 without end. 



No task is so formidable that the ant will 

 not attempt it; no obstacle is too large for 

 it to surmount, and no journey is of such 

 length that it will not pursue it to its con- 

 summation. Optimism and ant energy are 

 synonymous. 



Nature has distributed it in all parts of the 

 world, suiting it to all sorts and conditions 

 of things, but it is barely possible that in mum- 

 localities this generous provision is viewed 

 with some suspicion. 



If as a housewife you have opened the cup- 

 board doors and noticed the decorations on the 

 clean white papers, apparently in red lead 

 pencil, only to discovsr that the pencil marks 

 were moving, you have had a practical 

 demonstration of the justice of this suspicion. 



One end of this waving mark is inextricably 

 intrenched in every quarter-inch section of 

 the sugar box, and from that point the narrow 

 ribbon of restless energy passes over the floor, 

 through invisible crevices and across the lawn, 

 a measure of distance that would require 

 nights and days of activity of the ants to 

 overcome. 



In the valleys beneath the foothills of the 

 Wichita Mountains, the ants use a material 



for the construction of their dwellings peculiar 

 to that locality. By the interminable pro- 

 cesses of time, the mountains have gradually 

 yielded to erosion, and the tiny particles, 

 loosened by alternate freezings and thawings 

 in the winter, are washed down by storms or 

 blown about by furious winds into the valleys 

 below. These pebbles form the greater portion 

 of the mounds. 



The mounds that are thrown up in the pro- 

 cess of home building vary from eighteen 

 inches to three and four feet in diameter and 

 rise above the surface of the ground, in maxi- 

 mum, about twelve inches. Whether in the 

 course of the work, the substance for the 

 mound is taken out of the ground is not 

 material; it is sufficient to say that it is there. 

 Viewed from a distance, the particles appeared 

 to be mud balls, but on closer inspection it 

 was ascertained that they were granite 

 pebbles. 



Some idea of the immensity of the task 

 may be formed when the size of the mound 

 is taken into consideration and also the dura- 

 tion of time that it must have required to 

 carry the several bushels of material to the 

 mound and distribute it. Some of the particles 

 are at least one-quarter, if not a third of the 

 size of the ants, and would represent an 

 astonishing proportional weight. 



Unfortunately when these nests were seen, 

 the winter had buried the ants in deep repose, 

 so that no means were offered of watching the 

 struggle of construction, and the evidence 

 only, without ocular proof of the actual pro- 

 cesses of the work, existed. 



Near Lawton, Oklahoma, the sportsmen of 

 that town have established a shooting range, 

 where in closed seasons they indulge in the 

 pastime of breaking clay pigeons. At the 

 end of the range a great many of these mound- 

 building ants had established colonies, and 

 naturally some of the spent shot dropped in 

 that vicinity. 



These mounds increased in size and finally 

 became so conspicuous as to attract the atten- 

 tion of the more inquisitive sportsmen. LTpon 

 investigation, it was learned that the ants in 

 gathering the round, granite pebbles for their 

 mounds had also carried a great quantity of 

 shot which had fallen to the ground and 

 mingled with tiny particles of stone. More 

 than fifty pounds of shot were taken from the 

 mounds, and it was declared upon the honor 

 of the relator of the story that this was an 

 absolute fact. E. R. S. 



