ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1035 



OLD-FASHIONED I- 

 Planting at the Eagle 



Up through the canyon floated the weird call 

 of a great-horned owl. "That means a storm, 

 sure," he declared. It did, and the sign never 

 failed. When we heard the great-horned owl 

 hooting before the sun had set, the storm 

 followed invariably. 



Burrowing Lizards. — When the lizards are 

 turned out of winter quarters into the ad- 

 joining summer yard, their first few days are 

 devoted to basking in the sun or exploring 

 every corner in the exhilaration of release from 

 close confinement. 



A> soon as they have grown familiar with 

 the yard, many of the large iguanas make 

 burrows in the sand. These burrows are often 

 quite deep, and afford a safe retreat during 

 the heated summer days. The occupants 

 emerge only as they require food and then 

 return to their caves. As the nights grow 

 cool, the occupants of the burrows become 

 sluggish and retreat to greater depths. When 

 it is time to round-up the lizards and return 

 them to their winter quarters, the keepers are 

 obliged to dig out the burrowers. This they 

 find somewhat difficult, for the iguanas are 

 obliged gradually to extend the depth of 

 their caves in order to evade the men, and 

 often the occupants are found three feet from 



LOWER GARDEN 

 and Vulture Aviary. 



the opening; and if by chance they have 

 burrowed under a rock formation, they are 

 brought to the light only by much labor. 



An Orphan White-Tail. — Once in a while 

 we are obliged to foster some helpless infant 

 when the weakened mother has died in giving 

 birth to it. 



In many cases our efforts fail, for we cannot 

 give to the milk that we use the nourishing 

 quality of the natural mother's. This is espe- 

 cially true of many of our native deer and 

 sheep, some of the great cats, and the bears. 

 If a mother bear or cat deserts her offspring 

 at birth, it seems useless to attempt to rear 

 them. It does not seem to be so much the 

 lack of proper food, as the physical care and 

 the warmth which their savage mothers fur- 

 nish immediately after birth. 



If the mothers suckle their young for a few 

 weeks, the foster nursing is usually successful; 

 but should the young be deserted at once, 

 their chance of living is very slight. 



Just now we are caring for a little white- 

 tailed fawn — a female — picked up in one of 

 the adjacent country roads. The tiny deer 

 takes most kindly to the bottle and thus tal- 

 is making a good fight for life. Fortunately 



