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THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S GARDENS. 



In the month of June two acquisitions, one to the collection of 

 Mammals, the other to that of Birds, overshadow the rest in import- 

 ance. The mammal is a young female Orang-outan from Deli, 

 Sumatra, presented by Dr. Graham. She is a perfectly docile and 

 healthy animal, and, coming with a good appetite and at a favourable 

 time of the year, will form a test case for the suitability of the Apes' 

 House for members of this genus of Anthropoids. So far as can be 

 judged from up-to-date results, Chimpanzees do well here ; but it by 

 no means follows that conditions that suit Apes of the latter kind are 

 also suitable for Orang-outans. In view of what is known of their 

 mode of life it seems probable that a house built on the principle of a 

 well-ventilated conservatory, with a large tank of evaporating water, 

 would be more in keeping with their natural habitat, namely, trees 

 overhanging forest swamps, than the relatively dry cages in which 

 the Chimpanzees live and thrive. From Mr. Rothschild the Society 

 has received on deposit a second example of that rare and handsome 

 species of Monkey, Wolf's Guenon (C&rcovithecus ivolji), which is allied 

 to the Mona and Campbell's Guenon ; also a specimen of a species 

 not represented in the collection for many years, the Pluto Guenon 

 (0. leucampyx). 



For a long time we have been on the look-out for a male Painted 

 Ocelot. At length, through the kindness of the Right Hon. Charles 

 Booth, we have received one from Cis-andean Peru, procured by H. E. 

 Signor Fuentes. The four examples now in the collection admirably 

 illustrate the great and as yet unintelligible colour variations presented 

 by this species of South American Tiger-Cat. 



Wild stock cf domestic breeds have an interest all their own. 

 Hence it is satisfactory to record the donation of a specimen, albeit 

 young, of the Grecian Ibex (Cajira agagrus), from Antimilo, one of the 

 Cyclades, where this species, the progenitor of domestic Goats, still 

 survives, To a question as to the possibility of this specimen being 

 half-bred from wild and tame stock, Major Finnie, the donor, replied 

 that, so far as his observations go, the wild Goats avoid and do not 

 mingle with the domestic herds. 



Another interesting ruminant is a female specimen of the daintiest 

 and most beautifully marked of all Antelopes, the Harnessed Bushbuek 

 (Trapelaphus scriptus), from West Africa. 



The last addition to the Mammalia to be noticed is a pair of Orkney 

 Vole3 (Microtis orcadensis), presented by Mr. Headen Cocks. This 



