NEWS BULLETIN OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



lv ignore the nomenclature of American au- 

 thors. Measurements in inches should have 

 also been given. 



This timely synopsis will do much toward 

 rescuing our mammals from the chaos in which 

 they have become involved ; and it will be 

 extremely useful. Mr. Elliot has gallantly 

 broken the jam, and we assure him of our pro- 

 found consideration. We are now ready to 

 watch the drive that is sure to follow. 



NEW AMERICAN MAMMALS. 



The past two years have brought to light 

 an astonishing array of new mammals of large 

 size inhabiting North America. The follow- 

 ing species are well-defined, and constitute a 

 very important addition to our fauna : 



Kennedy's Mountain Goat — Oreamnus 

 kcimedyi. Described in 1900 by D. G. El- 

 liot. Horns long, slender, spreading widely, 

 and deeply ringed. Locality, Copper River, 

 Alaska. 



Mountain Caribou — Rangifer montanus. 

 Described in 1889 by Ernest Seton-Thomp- 

 son. Size, larger than other species, dark- 

 colored. Locality, Selkirk Mountains to 

 Cassiar Mountains, British Columbia. 



Alaskan Moose — Alces gigas. Described 

 in 1899 by G. S. Miller, Jr. Antlers of enor- 

 mous width. Locality, Kenai Peninsula, 

 Alaska. 



Fannin's Mountain Sheep — Oz'is fannini. 

 Described in 1 90 1 by W. T. Hornaday. Has 

 white head, neck, abdomen and rump patch, 

 bluish-gray body and tail, and brown stripe 

 down front of each leg. Locality, Klondike 

 River, and Lake La Barge, Yukon Province, 

 N. W. T. 



White-Fronted Musk-Ox — Ovibus mos- 

 chatus wardi. Named in 1901 by R. Ly- 

 dekker. described by J. A. Allen. Has a 

 dirty white band across the top of the head. 

 Locality, east coast of Greenland. 



Mexican Mountain Sheep — Ovis mexica- 

 nus. Described in 1901 by C. Hart Merriam. 

 Large ears, large molars, full forehead, pale 

 salmon-gray color. Locality, Lake Santa 

 Maria. Chihuahua, Northern Mexico. 



Stone's Black-Faced Caribou — Rangifer 

 stonci. Described in 1901 by J. A. Allen. 

 Forehead black, cheeks dark brown, end of 

 nose grayish white, antlers heavy and with 

 many erect tines on the beam. Locality, 

 Kenai Peninsula. 



All of these species seem to be justified by 

 their differential characters, although no one 



can say how many of them, ten years hence, 

 may find themselves branded " Synonym " — 

 which, being freely translated, means '* scien- 

 tific error." 



In the above memoranda, the English names 

 of Oreamnus kennedyi, Alces gigas, and Oris 

 mexicanus have been kindly supplied by the 

 editor of the Bulletin. Inasmuch as only 

 125.000,000 people speak the English language, 

 and not more than 40,000,000 more are trying 

 hard to learn it, the gentlemen who described 

 and named those species did not think it worth 

 while to bother with the bestowal of ordinary 

 English names. 



THE GANDER DEFENDING HIS MATE. 



THE PARK LIBRARY. 



Books for the correct identification of mam- 

 mals, birds and reptiles are as necessary as 

 food with which to keep them alive. At this 

 moment the Zoological Park office urgently 

 needs, for daily use, $5,000 worth of zoological 

 books and periodicals. Now that the Service 

 Building is complete and occupied by the Park 

 officers, it is time for the formation of a library 

 to begin in real earnest. Thus far, the Society's 

 expenditures for books have been limited to 

 about $1,500; and, in reality, a special Library 

 Fund is one of the needs of the hour. 



Incidentally, it may be mentioned that any 

 member of the Society, or friend thereof, who 

 owns a copy of Audubon's " Birds of North 

 America " which is not in constant use, and 

 which he might see fit to present to the Society, 

 it would constitute a highly acceptable and 

 permanently useful gift. 



All members who have in their libraries any 

 works on mammals, birds and reptiles which 

 are not in frequent use, are invited to remem- 

 ber that gifts of such books will be highly 

 acceptable to the Society. 



