a driving pirty,. cotne down from her seat and take the 
ace of the mounted aide-de-camp who was riding and 
me, she . looked just as she did when regularly got up 
r ndnig. Let any sensible woman once try riding 
tride, and the vastly superior comfort and convenience 
that position over hanging on by a side will brace her 
to a height much above any considerations of ''looks," 
d she wUl have the safet}^ consideration as a make- 
=ig'ii- W. Wade. 
►akmont, Pa. 
A. Boston correspondent. C. H. A., writes : 
V'our editorial on "The Side-Saddle" is admirable. The 
le-saddlc is a humbug and a senseless thing. In the 
and Canon and the mountains of southern California 
t summer women always rode astride, and no one ever 
jitght of It, except a few novices among the ladies 
imselves, and presently they had things far more im- 
rtant and interesting to think of. 
The guides won't take them any other way, and are 
rteclly right. If it be said that to ride astride is very 
mg to a stout woman, it should be replied that so is 
rseback riding to such a person anvway. It should be 
i.ply the question of whether thev'want to ride at all 
not. If we can only ever get womankind to have sense 
d sand enough to do a few of these obviously sensible 
ngs! Ail sensible men just want them to, but they are 
ire afraid of women than of the very evil one. 
saw a young lady the other night^ riding astride on 
boulevard in Newton, and she had a firm seat and 
iked more than all right. 
Hie gratifying announcement comes from Cleveland 
t the Health Protection .Association of that citv pro- 
ses a crusade against *the side-saddle, 
Quistngf on the Golf Coast. 
foRT Myei?s, Fla., Oct. 30.^Editor Forest and Stream: 
e Maud and Kingfisher, cruising yawls, arrived here 
day at 9:30 A. .M. We have been out fourteen days, 
1 nearly every hour has been jib and dandy weather. 
I so we have made short runs and have left the birds 
ne. We go from here up the Caloosahatchee and shall 
to get to Okeechobee ; but the insects may head us of?, 
case that happens we will hunt salt water again, and 
ill events you shall hear from Tarpon. 
Careless Ornithology. 
iOME one has said that it is better to know a few 
igs which are .so, than a good many which are not so. 
vould seem as if many who wrote about birds preferred 
tell us things which are not so, instead of taking the 
uble to find out whether the things they write are so or 
:. Here are some examples noticed within a few weeks : 
^rom the Phillips Phonograph: "Mr. Holt's camp 
many mounted specimens of game. In one corner of 
camp is a very large American eagle which was cap- 
ied by an old hunter in the upper part of the lake 
ion. His wings have a spread of 12 feet. He is a 
bird." 
•"rom the Bangor Commercial : "'There is a possible 
Uel to this story in the reported fact that a certain 
rchant at Manchester Corners caught a young loon or 
ce driver." 
"he Outlook of Sept. 30 has this about chimney swifts : 
n't this a beautiful nest? There are four little" speckly, 
ckly eggs under me." 
n a recent number of Forest and Stream one of your 
itributors, in speaking of the recollections of his boy- 
id, tells of seeing the fishhawks carrying food to their 
ing in their beaks. 
^ow it would have been a A-ery easy matter for these 
iters to have found out that the eagle very rarely 
lins the spread of 8 feet; that a loon and a "stake 
yer" are not only not the same bird, but about as 
■erent from each other as two birds well can be; that 
eggs of the chimney swift are always pure white, and 
t a fishhawk never carries food in its beak, but always 
ts claws. 
ohn Burroughs^ in" the August Century, in one of his 
inning articles on "Wild Life," in speaking of the 
ckadec says: "Branch-builders and ground-builders 
easily accommodated, but the chickadee must find a 
ity. and a small one at that. The Avoodpeckers make a 
iiy when a suitable trunk (^r branch is found, but the 
ckadee with its small, sharp beak can only smooth and 
pen one already made." Now any ocilogist will tell you 
t the chickadees can and do make their own holes, just 
woodfieckers do. While it is possible that in some cases 
y may avail themselves of some natural cavity to help 
ttle, still in the many holes I have seen made by them I 
.'c never known one to do this; while I have several 
les seen woodpeckers pick through to get at a natural 
low. The fact which Mr. Burroughs states, that their 
iks are sharp and strong enough to "smooth and 
;pen" a natural cavity, proves that it is fitted to make 
hole without having any natural hollow to help them, 
e fact is that they can, and do, make their own holes 
t as the nuthatches do, and not only do thej' do this, but 
the fall they dig the holes to serve for their winter re- 
at, in quite solid wood, instead of availing themselves 
woodpeckers' holes and natural cavities, 
n the September number of Self Culture, Mr. Oliver 
vie, in an article entitled "Songs. Habits and Haunts 
American Birds." in speaking of the bittern, says: 
ew naturalists indeed have actually seen the bittern 
;aged in its serenades. I have heard them many a 
le, but ncA^er saw the bird performing them. A natural- 
friend of mine, a civil engineer, recently had the good 
tune to .see one of these birds engaged in 'pumping.' 
having come in easy range of his telescope. I will 
icribe if as nearly as possible in his own words. After 
nding in an apparently meditative position for some 
le, it would slowly raise its head and stretch out its 
:k- until its bill pointed nearly^ straght upward, when it 
nmenced by several times openir^g. and shutting- its big 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
beflk with a snap that Was plainly heard, though 500 or 
600 feet distant. It then uttered the characteristic notes, 
and truly it sounds much like pumping." 
Having had opportunity to look at one in a trap, as long 
as I wished, and to see it go through the whole perform- 
ance withm a lew feet, I can confidently affirm that the 
bittern does not make any noise at all Avith its beak. It 
does not snap it. If it did any one can sec that it would 
not be possible to snap it so loud as to be heard for ^oo 
or 600 feet. Neither does it stretch its neck straight "up 
when It makes its noise. It crooks the lower part of the 
neck outward, and points the bill upward as this engineer 
states. It then makes a kind of hiccoughing noise, like 
hic, hie, hie. opening its bill each time, but not snapping 
it The noise it makes very nearly resembles that made 
by a person commencing to vomit. After making this 
noise five or six times it begins its regular booming. 
When it is making its first noise one can see the feathers 
of the throat puff slightly, every time it makes the noise: 
but when it booms its throat seems to be inflated to twice 
Its natural size. While I have never but on this occasion 
had a fair chance to see the whole performance. I have a 
great many times, in the evening and night, been so close 
to them as plainly to hear them hiccoughing, but I do 
not think it can be often heard over too to 200 feet away. 
The instances cited above are only a part of those I 
have noticed in various publications since Aug. t. It 
seems quite important that Avhen so much attention is 
being given to ornithology those who write on such sub- 
jects should he sure of their facts before they give them 
to the public. ' jj. 
New York Zoological Park. 
On Wednesday, Nov. 8, there was opened at Bronx 
Park, in New York city, the largest zoological gardens 
m the world. This is the culmination, long delayed, of 
.something like twenty-five years of work by persons in 
New York who Avere interested in this subject, and who 
believed that in New Yoyk, if anywhere in the world, a 
large and complete zoological park should be established. 
A reference to the files of the Forest and Stream will 
show as far back as the later '70s editorial articles advo- 
cating and urging action such as has been only recently 
taken. 
The new park belongs to th? New York Zoological 
Society, which was incor])orated by special act of the 
Legislature April 26, 1895, Avith purposes to establish 
and maintain a zoological garden in the city of New Y'ork. 
to encourage the study of zoology and to "furnish instruc- 
tion and recreation to the people. The act authorized 
the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund to allot and 
appropriate for the uses of the society, under certain ex- 
pressed conditions, any of the lands belonging to the city 
north of tssth street. As a condition of the grant of 
land and the maintenance of the collections ^ind the park 
by the city, the Zoological Society Avas required to raise 
$250,000, of which amount $100,000 was to lie in hand 
before the society entered into occupation of the park. 
This fund was to be expended- in the erection of the 
necessary buildings and inclosutes, and in the purchase 
of collections, as well as for the general purposes of the 
society, but as stated, the city was to prepare the ground 
of the park, to maintain it in good order and to bear the 
expense of caring for the collections. 
The society having been incorporated, it Avas neces- 
sary before anything more than its business organiza- 
tion could take place, to determine where its park should 
be located. In only two or three of the larger parks on 
the outskirts of the city was there spare room enough 
for such a collection as was desired, and it was felt that 
the society must start its gardens in the right Avay with 
plenty of room, for when a grant had once been accepted 
there would be small prospect of its ever being increased. 
For the most part the zoological gardens of the world 
are small. The well-known Zoo of London has an area 
of 30^ acres; that at Amsterdam of only 25; that of the 
Societe d'Acclimitation at Paris of 50 acres; that at Ber- 
lin of 60. In our oAvn country, the Philadelphia Zoo oc- 
cupies 33 acres, the Cincinnati Zoo 36, AA'hile the National 
Zoological Park at Washington, maintained by the Gov- 
ernment, and with an area of 168 acres, has until now 
been the largest zoological garden in the. world. The 
New York society's park, however, is more than one- 
half larger, covering 261 acres. 
Experts from other cities were in\-ited to come to NeAv 
York and look over and report on the diiifcrent parks, 
and when this had been done, after long consideration 
and careful study Bronx Park was selected for the loca- 
tion of the gardens. The situation has many advantages. 
It is adjacent to the Botanical Garden, in North Bronx 
Park; its topography is diversified, yet it has no steep 
hills: it is already well wooded with large forest trees; 
it has passing through it more than one natural water 
course. 
After the ground for the park had been .selected, or 
rather while its process of selection Avas .going on, the 
board of directors were engaged in the work of raising 
the money for the fund of $100,000 which was needed be- 
fore the park could be turned over to them. This was ac- 
complished, the city authorities signified their approval 
and in due time the land was handed over to them. In 
July. 1S98. ground was broken, and for a time little else 
Avat^ to be seen in the park besides buildings in course of 
construction. By this autumn, however, order began to be 
evolved out of Avhat had been chaos, and within the past 
few weeks the work has gone forward with especially 
rapid strides. The Avater and scAverage system, long in 
process of construction, Avas at last completed, tested 
and buried out of sight. Recently the last touches were 
put on the more important buildings that have been 
erected. The animals began to arrive a few weeks ago, 
and the number already received is very large, although 
of course as yet only a beginning has been made. 
As has often been announced, it is the purpose of the 
society to begin its collections by paying especial atten- 
tion to North American forms of life, and this has been 
done up to this time. Thus we find at the park a consid- 
erable number of our larger and more striking mammals, 
and among them those especially interesting to sports- 
men. Western game animals are prominent in the col- 
lection so far as made. 
As is well understood^-., the tAVO principal entrances , to 
the park are dh .die ea'gfc dnd'AVest sides, the former being; 
approached from the Adllage of Fordham and the latter 
from West Farms, West Farms is reached, as is ex- 
plained in the map, by the elevated railroad and Irolley 
road, while Jthe Harlem Railroad brings the visitor froni 
the Grand Central station to Fordham, from which point 
a ten minutes' walk -or a shorter drive takes liim to the 
Fordham entrance. At this entrance a pavilion is erected, 
and after passing through this, if one keeps to the right 
the path cuts the deer range in two. To the left is a very 
pretty group of axis deer from India — a buck, two does 
and a fawn, all of them spotted whh white like the fawn 
of the Virginia deer, or like a calf elk. To the right is 
a paddock in Avhich a mule deer buck feeds alone. 
If one keeps to the left he passes the large range of the 
waterfowl, where ducks and geese of various species are 
to be confined. Within this range are many Httle islands 
surrounded by streams, and on the islands are shelters 
in Avhich the birds may be protected from the weather 
and where they may breed. South of this is the tre- 
mendous flying cage, not ye»t completed, in Avhich, when 
the time comes, many large birds such as herons, ibises, 
flamingoes, snake birds, etc., Avill be confined. This cag6 
is so large that it completely incloses three considerable 
forest trees. Just beyond this cage, and to the right, is 
the bird house, fitted up with cages inside and out. 
Within the smaller and more delicate birds wall be housed, 
and also in winter many of the species which in summer 
will occupy the flying cage. The exterior cages will be 
devoted to the hardy raptorial birds, such as eagles, 
hawks and owls. The Avails of the interior of the bird 
house are attractively painted Avith representations of 
outdoor scenes. 
Further along the path, still to the right comes the 
moose range, in which are confined a young moose and 
a young caribou. They are odd, ungainly little creatures. 
It is hoped that before long their numbers may be added 
to. South of this range is that devoted to the elk, which 
contains ten or more fine specimens. There are tAVO 
magnificent bulls, tAvo young bulls, a calf and fiA^e coavs. 
Ail of them are in fine condition and form a beautiful 
picture as they feed or rest in their large pasture. East 
of tlie elk range are the wolf and fox dens, occupied by ' 
a pair of gray wolves, a pair of Russian wolves and others 
of the smaller Canidce. The Russian Avolves are inter- 
esting for the differences from the American wolves which 
they shoAv. This is seen chiefly in the shape of the head, 
which seems to be much broader and more massive in 
the European than in our species. East of the southern 
end of the elk range is the pond for ornamental AvildfoAvl 
and for certain aquatic carnivores, such as the mink antj 
the otter. Some of the aquatic rodents Avill perhaps be 
put here later. South of this pond and extending to the 
eastAvard is the antelope range, Avhere are seen five beau- 
tiful young animals. A small colony of prairie dogs un- 
confined is living in the antelope range, and across the 
path north are the quarters where the prairie dogs arc 
under fence. Further east, and bounded on the east by 
the Boston Road, is the buffalo range, containing se\'en 
fine animals — tAVO old and large bidls, two younger bulls 
and of cows an old one, a two-year-old and a yearling. 
They seem in good condition and haA'e their winter coats 
on. NorthAvest of the buffalo range and bej^ond the rock- 
ing stone are the bear dens, Avhich seem to be a center of 
interest for all visitors. Here there are two or three 
black bears, a grizzly cub. and tAvo supposed grizzly cubs 
from Alaska. These are all in one den, in Avhich there is 
abundant room. The next one is occupied by a group of 
California sea lions, and the next by two fine polar bears, 
said to be the largest existing in captivity. Although 
young ones, the\- are very much larger than any of the 
other bears here. The sleeping rooms for the bears have 
the appearance of being hollowed out of the rock. Each 
inclosure is fitted up with one or more standing trees, 
and in each there is abundant room for the animals to 
exercise. North of the bear dens is the large beaver 
pond, as yet unoccupied. It should form an admirable 
range for these animals. 
Among the other animals to be mentioned are a tiger 
cub about as large as a half-groAvn panther, a South 
American aiiteater, some monkeys, a peccary and coons. 
Avildcats, badgers, foxes, skunks, Avoodchucks and many 
other animals. There are besides not a few birds, many 
of them of species that the average man never sees A'ery 
close at hand. 
Of all the exhibits in the park, perhaps none Avill be of 
such general interest as the reptile house. This is true, 
not onl}' because snakes and reptiles have an absorbing 
interest for the average human being, but also for the 
reason that they are less knoAvn and their modes of life 
less understood than those of mammalian quadrupeds. 
In the alligator tank, among a lot of good-sized com- 
rades, lies the monster of the house, an alligator more 
than 12 feet long. Not far aAvay from him in one of the 
upright Avail cases is a python 22 feet long. Ranging 
doAvn from these giants are lizards, snakes, turtles and 
liatrachians of all sorts and sizes, the total number of 
specimens here being more than 500 and representing 
more than fifteen species of turtles, thirty-seven of snakes, 
eleven of lizards, and fourteen of batrachian. The smaller 
snakes, are shown in small clear glass cases, which are 
fitted up with earth, rocks, small trees and plants, in 
close representation of the homes Avhich they naturally 
inhabit. Avhile the large snakes are in the permanent Avail 
cases, Avhich are very much larger, but are fitted -up in 
the same Avaj'. The effect is very beautiful and attract- 
ive, and the A'isitor is greatly impressed by the good judg^- 
ment that has been sboAvn.in the arrangement of. the eol- 
lection. 
The tank for the turtles is not less interesting. A long 
tank, perhaps a foot deep and 3 feet Avide, bordered on 
either side by 4 or 5 feet of clean sand, is divided in 
ten or twelve compartments by gratings in the water, and 
plate glass divisions aboA'C. Old logs lying in the Avater 
give the turtles an opportunity to come up on to the sand; 
plants grow in the sand and in the gravel at the bottom 
of the tank — in fact, all the surroundings are those of the 
home of a Avater turtle. Among the species here repre- 
sented are two which are A-ery interesting; one is Bland- 
ing's tortoise, a form intermediate bctAveen the box tor- 
toises and the Avater turtles, and equally at home on the 
land or in the Avater. Another is Muhlenberg's turtle, a 
small Avater tortoise Avith a very limited range, found only 
in a small area-in ISfew Jersey and Pennsylvania. Besides 
