ZOOLOGICAL 
SHOE-BILL STORK. 
Ghizeh Gardens, Egypt. 
The most interesting species of bird is the 
shoe-bill, (Balaeniceps rex), three individuals 
of which stalk solemnly about near the house of 
Captain Flower. When approached they clat- 
ter their bills like a stork, bringing them gradu- 
ally forward and downward until they touch the 
ground. In spite of all accounts in books of 
natural history, the shoe-bills refuse to touch 
shell-tish, and in fact all fish except a certain 
species of mullet. In the same paddock are 
two magnificent saddle-billed storks, reared 
from the nest. The eyes, small side wattles 
and frontal plates are brilliant yellow, while 
the basal and terminal parts of the mandibles 
are intensely scarlet, and the remainder black. 
Among the mammals, two from Madagascar 
were the prizes——the tenrec, a long-snouted 
nondescript in appearance, and the fossa, 
(Cryptoprocta feroz). This brought to mind a 
yaguarundi in general appearance, but when it 
leaped up and clung to a branch the resemblance 
ceased. In its facial expression and the car- 
SOCIETY 
BULLETIN. 661 
riage of its tail, it was decidedly 
lemurine. The Director told me that 
its method of progression varied 
from plantigrade to digitigrade. 
The young white-tailed gnus, bred 
in the Garden, are remarkable in ap- 
pearance, in that their horns are 
straight spikes, pointing upward. 
The curved portion does not appear 
until after the first year or two. 
Many young mammals, and birds 
either building nests or sitting on 
their eggs, bore witness to the excel- 
lent conditions of captivity, while 
there were many wild birds breeding 
at this time in the trees and shrubs 
along the walks. 
To an American visitor, not only 
are the exhibits interesting, but the 
Arab attendants, the veiled native 
women visitors, the mosques of the 
city beyond, all hold one’s attention. 
And when the Director, escorting 
one out to the main entrance, points 
to the reeds of the Nile shore, a hun- 
dred yards away, as the reputed spot 
of the discovery of the infant 
“Moses,” one feels that this Zoolog- 
ical Garden is indeed one of varied 
and unique interest ! 
A mile or two away is the aquar- 
ium, containing seventeen tanks, 
placed in an artistic artificial grotto 
of cement. A huge electric catfish 
frora the Nile wins our respect when 
we learn that he would be capable of giving a 
fatal shock to a man. This aquarium has re- 
cently been put under the direction of Captain 
Flower. 
One other institution worthy of mention in 
Cairo is the Museum of Geology, again with a 
collection representative only of African, indeed 
of Egyptian, minerals, metals and fossils. The 
credit of arrangement and labelling is due to 
Dr. Hume. 
At the Museum of Zoology the Anderson col- 
lection of Reptilia and Amphibia and the Bou- 
langer collection of fishes are very fine, but the 
lighting is so poor and the general labelling and 
arrangement so inadequate, that the casual vis- 
itor can gain little by visiting them. The visit- 
ing ornithologist can profit much by looking 
over Mr. Nicoll’s excellent collection of skins 
made at Ghizeh. 
I have intentionally omitted mention of the 
great Museum of Antiquities, as my object in 
