IOO 



The Museum Gazette 



JOHN AT THE ZOO. 



{Continued from page 26.) 



In the same house (the Civets) the keeper showed us, 

 privately, a new arrival, and one which he said had not been 

 represented in the gardens for a great many years, the 

 " Aard wolf." It looks somewhat like a little but very 

 intelligent hyena. I was warned not to confuse the " aard 

 wolf" with the "aard vark," a very different animal. Both 

 are, as the Dutch word aard (earth) suggests, natives of 

 South Africa, and accustomed to burrow. I was told that 

 it differs from all hyenas in having small and very weak 

 teeth. 



The English wild cattle at the Zoo have blackish ears 

 and the bull has a dark spot on the lower part of the 

 front legs. The latter is from Chartley. The Chillingham 

 bull presented to the British Museum by the Earl of 

 Tankerville in 1890 has reddish ears. The following label 

 accompanies it : " The white cattle of Chillingham Park, 

 Northumberland, are often recognised as wild animals. This, 

 however, is not the case. They are evidently semi-albinos, 

 descended (as indicated by their red ears) from dark coloured 

 cattle, allied to the Welsh or Pembroke breed, which is 

 probably one of the oldest in Britain and nearly related to the 

 ancient wild ox or aurochs. It will be seen that the horns 

 are similar in shape and colour to those of the Welsh breed. 

 And it is noticeable that when Welsh cattle tend to become 

 white, their ears remain blackish or grey." 



Several specimens of the rat-tailed serpent (Lachesis 

 lanceolatus) from tropical America have been recently placed in 

 the reptile house. They mimic to a remarkable extent the 

 shingle on the floor of their cage. When in repose the 

 yellowish tip of the tail is frequently vibrated. It then bears 



