HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
That we are now threatened with a Showmen's 
Syndicate to capture the Wild Beast Trade of 
the World. In 1913 certain amateurs suggested 
doing- so. We still breathe freely. Syndicates 
not yet formed ! We suggest they combine : 
united they have a ghost of a chance of suc- 
cess; divided they absolutely fail. Even united, 
we give them six months, and then the after- 
math ! What lovely recriminations. 
The article on above Syndicates held over. 
That a Walrus has been captured by the sailors 
of one of our warships. He was christened 
"Von Tirpitz." 
That M. G. de Soathoff, of Leysin, Switzerland, 
writes under date 24th January : — 
" I have received safely your Magazine. 
Why do you not publish more articles on the 
Menagerie World? You can publish that 
many servants at Hagenbeck's Travelling 
Menagerie were spions" (I suppose Mr. Sou- 
thoff means spies) " and now they are officers 
in the Huns army in France ! Hoping to> be 
able to send you some paper on the Animal 
Keeping. I wish you every success." 
That the arrivals in London Docks have been 
Amazon Parrots, quantity of Conures, 15 Mar- 
mozets, 1 Toucan, 30 Rhesus Monkeys, 20 Mon- 
gooses, 12 Mynahs, 13 Chacma Baboons, 3 
Secretaries, 2 Stanleys, 4 Hyrax, 2 Meercats, 4 
Chimpanzees, 4 Mandrills, 1 Schmidts, 1 Man- 
gabey (rare), 2i Bonnets, 2 Lapondas, 100 Ameri- 
can Grey Squirrels, 55 Budgerigars, 90' Cock 
Canaries, 309 Hens, 2 Demoiselle Cranes, 3 
talking Grey Parrots, 1 Black Swan, 1 Cock 
Jungle Fowl, 1 -Salt Desert Cat, 1 Acland 
Grison, 2 Sand Hamsters. 
That the arrivals in Liverpool have been 12 Dog- 
faces, 1 Mona, 1 Hussar, 1 Civet Cat, a few 
Grey Parrots, with other odds, and ends. 
That Monkeys and Parrots occasionally arrive 
in Hull. 
That a correspondent sends an account of the 
hardships of the animals at the Budapest Zoo : 
"The animals in the Budapest Zoo are also 
feeling the pangs of hunger owing to the 
scarcity of foodstuffs, and these are sad times 
for the animals in the Varosliget. The horse- 
flesh with which they fed the wild animals has 
become so expensive that rations had to be re- 
duced by half, so that the roaring of the lions 
and tigers is now incessant, to the great delight 
it may be added, of the children. The wild 
birds, eagles, and vultures, etc., are being fed 
with the flesh of rats, bred for the purpose in 
the Zoo by hundreds and killed by dozens daily, 
so as to save the horseflesh for the king of 
beasts. Some days there was no horseflesh at 
all, and in order to keep the lions and wolves 
and other wild beasts alive they had to slaughter 
some of the goats and other less valuable ani- 
mals exhibited in the Zoo. The herbivorous ani- 
mals are also very badly off. There is no hay to 
be had at all, and a substitute has been found in 
wild chestnuts, an innovation strongly deplored 
by the animals, but reluctantly accepted as bet- 
ter than nothing. Even under these circum- 
stances last year's budget of the Budapest Zoo 
was double that of the previous year, although 
many of the animals have been disposed of in 
consequence of the food difficulties. The seals — 
there were about ten of them — were killed, for 
no fish could be provided for them, and their 
flesh was given to the wild beasts,. Two of the 
polar bears were also shot, one because he abso- 
lutely refused to eat the war food and the other 
because he grew so weak on the new diet that 
it was an act of charity to finish him off. The 
director of the Zoo opened a competition for 
the shooting of the polar bears, and one Ximrod 
paid twelve pounds for the pleasure of settling 
them." 
That from time to time there have appeared in 
the English Press conflicting reports of w^hat 
was done with the animals in the Antwerp Zoo- 
logical Gardens at the time of the bombardment. 
The point is now settled by a letter from the 
director of the Rotterdam Gardens which ap- 
pears in the New York Zoological Society's 
" Bulletin." It is as follows : — 
"All the bears in the Antwerp Zoological 
Gardens were shot prior to the bombardment. 
The large feline carnivora were put into strong 
transportation cages and removed to the rcar 
of the garden, likewise prior to the bombard- 
ment, while the small felinse were transferred 
to cages in the cellars of the Festival Building. 
A few days before the surrender of the city, 
when the heavy cannonading started fires in al! 
parts of the city, which could no longer be put 
out in consequence of lack of water, the large 
carnivora were likewise shot by resolution of 
the board of directors, adopted contrary to the 
director's advice. None of the other animals 
were killed, with the exception of a few veno- 
mous snakes. During the bombardment onlv 
one shell dropped into the garden, striking the 
ground in the open space for the turtles, where 
it fortunately did no material damage,. Mr. 
L'Hoest (the director) and his two younger 
children were my guests from October 5 to the 
earlier part of November, while the other 
members of his family likewise came to Rotter- 
dam towards the end of the bombardment. Mr. 
L'Hoest himself, whose mind had suffered 
severely from the effects of the terrible excite- 
ment and of the successive events which over- 
powered him, also came to Rotterdam for a 
few days after the bombardment. The Ant- 
werp garden and the animals kept there have 
suffered no further damage during the siege." 
Printed by W. J. Hastid * Son, (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road, London, E. 
