ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



913 



CHUTE FOR SHIFTING BUFFALOES 



to several methods in crating them. The larger 

 deer are usually roped and pulled into a crate. 

 With the smaller and more active specimens, 

 several keepers rush them into corners, grasp 

 them firmly and then force them into the boxes. 

 While this work is not dangerous for the men, 

 great care is necessary in handling the strug- 

 gling animals to prevent breaking limbs and 

 injuring antlers, and there is much padding of 

 corners and of the crates themselves. 



In moving reptiles, preliminary precautions 

 are not so elaborate, although great care is nec- 

 essary in handling the poisonous snakes. With 

 very nervous examples, that will stop feeding 

 if handled, we employ a box trap with a drop 

 door. The snake enters the box to hide, the 

 trap is removed to another cage, the door opened 

 and the snake emerges at its leisure. With a 

 big python the work is strenuous, but not par- 

 ticularly dangerous. The serpent is covered 

 with a blanket, and through the folds a keeper 

 seizes its neck. When the head is pinned down, 

 eight or ten men quickly grasp the body; the 

 writhing creature is straightened out, and then 

 precipitated, tail first, into the new cage it is to 

 occupy. 



ODD FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN BIRDS 



By Lee S. Crandall 

 Assistant Curator of Birds 



WHILE there is undoubtedly an instinc- 

 tive tendency among birds to seek mates 

 of the same species, which accounts 

 largely for the paucity of records of wild 

 hybrids, there are numerous facts which tend 

 tn demonstrate that the barrier is, in many eases, 

 a flimsy one at best and readily put aside under 

 favorable conditions. One of the best-known 



cases is that of the Lawrence and Brewster 

 warblers, hybrids between golden-wings and 

 blue-wings. These cross-bred birds have been 

 noted only where the ranges of the parent 

 species overlap, and it would appear that prox- 

 imity is the only requisite for mating. Numer- 

 ous wild duck hybrids have been described, many 

 of them doubtless resulting from unions between 

 wing-tipped birds, unable to seek more natural 

 mates. 



In captivity, the objections of birds to alien 

 species seem to be readily overcome, and many 

 very interesting hybrids have been produced. 

 The greater number have been obtained from 

 water fowl, which are easily crossed. With 

 many species, it is necessary to confine the birds 

 in a compartment secluded from the sight of 

 others. Very often, however, birds at large 

 among a diverse assembly will select mates of 

 totally unrelated species. One of the most strik- 

 ing instances was furnished by a large, un- 

 pinioned male Canada goose, which had winged 

 his way from Lake Agassiz to Cope Lake, 

 perhaps with the intention of selecting a mate 

 from the geese gathered there. His fancy evi- 

 dently was taken by the female Cereopsis goose. 

 Her rightful mate, however, is a powerful bird 

 and the Canada must needs go about his court- 

 ing with discretion. He commenced his cam- 

 paign by attaching himself to the pair and fol- 

 lowing their every movement most assiduously. 

 The male Cereopsis appeared to resent this 

 attendance and did not hesitate to show his dis- 

 like. Soon, however, he became more tolerant 

 of the other's company and ceased his hostile 

 demonstrations. After this point, matters went 

 smoothly for the Canada. His attentions be- 

 came more and more persistent, until finally 

 he usurped the position of the Cereopsis. Once 

 he had gained this coveted place, however, he 



RECEIVING A LION BY EXPRESS 



