ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
Not only are Professor Osborn’s own extensive 
discoveries and researches here treated in eatenso 
—and for the first time in a single volume—but 
a host of related facts and discoveries of recent 
date that have been drifting through space are 
here brought together in one well-rounded treat- 
ise. In clear language, and with a wealth of 
admirable illustrations, maps, charts and dia- 
grams, the story of the later evolution of the 
world and its mammalian inhabitants is unrolled 
before the reader like a vast panorama. The 
mammals of long ago are linked up with those 
of the present, until truly “the past rises before 
us like a dream.” 
Of living animals, we are accustomed to deal 
with the migrations of species, from range to 
range and from state to state; but here the 
author deals with the migrations of faunas, and 
not only from continent to continent, but from 
hemisphere to hemisphere. Perhaps the most 
interesting item under this head is that treating 
of the migration of the fauna of Africa into 
Asia, Europe and America, which Professor Os- 
born predicted several years before the discovery 
of its evidences actually occurred. 
In any other than a lengthy notice, it is impos- 
sible to offer even an outline sketch of this zoo- 
logical masterpiece. All those who are inter- 
ested in the general dissemination of zoological 
facts will find satisfaction in the knowledge that 
the author’s treatment of his subject is so clear 
and direct that the language of science, as he em- 
ploys it, is quite within the comprehension of 
even the laymen who feel a real interest in the 
mammalian life of the world. To those who 
herein take up for the first time the mammals of 
the past, a glossary would have been a welcome 
addition to the volume; but that can easily be 
added hereafter. 
It is no exaggeration to say that this work is 
in a class by itself, and beyond compare; and all 
zoologists, and promoters of zoological knowl- 
edge, are to be congratulated upon its appear- 
ance at this time. 
THE AGE OF MAMMALS in Europe, Asia and 
North America. By Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D. 
Hon.D.Sce., President of the New York Zoological So- 
ciety. New York. The Macmillan Company. 8 vo. 
pp- 635; with 220 illustrations and maps. $4.50 net. 
Wo 1s Jel 
THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 
On October 12, 1910, three Greater Birds of 
Paradise, (Paradisea apoda), reached New York 
by the S. S. Minnetonka, consigned to the Zoo- 
logical Park. All of the birds are in good con- 
dition, and consist of one adult male, with the 
BULLETIN. 7123 
beautiful flank plumes about one-quarter grown, 
one male in nearly adult plumage, but minus the 
plumes, and a young bird which may prove to 
be a female. The two older birds are most pug- 
nacious, so that it was found necessary to place 
the trio in three separate but adjoining cages, 
on the north side of the main hall in the Large 
Bird-House. Although very nervous at first, the 
birds have now grown accustomed to their new 
quarters, and no longer object to the scrutiny 
of the crowds which come to gaze at them. 
These are the first Birds of Paradise we have 
obtained alive. They were purchased for $500 
from Mr. A. E. Pratt, of London, who brought 
them from their home in the Aru Islands, about 
90 miles off the New Guinea coast. 
This is the species most frequently seen on the 
hats of women, and the traffic in dry skins 
formed the chief occupation of the Aru natives 
for years. As the full-plumaged males only were 
killed, the species held its own fairly well. Of 
late years, however, the demand having increased 
inordinately, less discrimination has been shown 
in killing the birds, so that their numbers have 
become greatly diminished. Unless absolute 
protection is soon afforded to all of the Birds of 
Paradise and their congeners, this wonderful 
group must soon become reduced to extinction. 
The method followed by the native hunters is 
quite interesting. The birds have a habit of re- 
sorting to a “dancing tree,’ where the males 
pose in various grotesque positions, calculated to 
display to the best advantage the remarkable 
beauties of their plumage, apparently for the 
admiration of the females. The hunter builds 
a shelter of leaves in the tree, and there con- 
ceals himself at dawn. As the birds come to 
the tree, they are shot with blunt-headed arrows 
and fall to the ground in a stunned condition, 
where they are dispatched by a second native. 
This method has the two-fold advantage of se- 
curing the birds with plumage uninjured and 
without alarming the other members of the flock. 
Each native tribe has its own trees, which it 
defends fiercely against poaching neighbors. It 
is a curious fact that dancing-trees that have 
yielded many skins for several successive years, 
are sometimes deserted suddenly, and for no ap- 
parent reason, although the birds may return 
later on. L. S. C. 
ANNUAL MEETING. 
The Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the So- 
ciety will be held in the Grand Ball Room of the 
Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, on Tuesday evening, 
January 10, 1911, at 8.30 P. M. An interest- 
ing entertainment has been provided. 
