FLOOR.] 
EASTERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY. 
155 
EASTERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY. 
The Wall Cases contain the general collection of Birds ; the 
larger Table Cases contain the collection of Shells of Molluscous 
animals ; on the top of the Wall Cases is a series of horns of different 
kinds of Deer and Rhinoceros. 
The Wall Cases on the west side of the room, or to the left 
on entering from the Mammalia Saloon, contain (1-26) the 
diurnal and nocturnal Birds of Prey. Cases 27-64 contain the 
Perching Birds ; Cases 65-77, the climbing or Scansorial Birds ; 
Cases 78-83, the Pigeons. 
On the east side of the room, Cases 84-106 contain the Gallina- 
ceous Birds; Cases 107-134, the Wading Birds; and Cases 135-166 
the Web-footed Birds. 
Cases 1-26. Diurnal Birds of Prey. Some of the most interesting 
species are, the Condor, or Great Vulture of the Andes, which soars 
higher than any other bird ; the Turkey Buzzards, or Carrion Vultures, 
which clear away putrifying carcases, and are the most useful scaven- 
gers in the warmer parts of America ; the Eagles, the most formidable 
of which are the Lsemmergeier and the Wedge-tailed Eagle of 
Australia; the Kites; the true Falcons, which are the most courageous, 
in proportion to their size, of all the Birds of Prey, and some of which 
are used in Falconry ; the Secretary Bird of South Africa, with its long 
legs, which kills venomous snakes, and, therefore, is strictly pre- 
served in the British Colonies ; it derives its name from the plumes, 
like pens, on the side of the head. These obtain their food during 
the day. 
Of the nocturnal Birds of Prey, may be noticed the great Eagle Owl ; 
the Snowy Owl of North Europe and America ; the Fishing Owls, 
with their bare legs. The Owls, with a few exceptions, hunt for their 
prey by night, being most useful by destroying a great number of 
noxious animals, rats, mice, &c. Their soft plumage renders their 
flight almost noiseless. 
Cases 27-77. The Perching Birds. Cases 27, 28. The Crows, Jays, and 
Magpies. The gorgeous Birds of Paradise from New Guinea and the ad- 
joining islands, where their skins and plumes form a regular article of a 
lucrative trade ; selections of the finest specimens have separate glass 
cases allotted to them. The Yellow and Black Orioles, of which one 
Continental species is a rare visitor to the south of England. Case 29 
contains the Drongos or King Crows and the Wood- Shrikes. In 
Cases 30, 31, are the Caterpillar-catchers or Cuckoo- Shrikes, so called 
from the similarity exhibited by some of them to the plumage of a 
Cuckoo ; and the Flycatchers, one of the most elegant of which is 
the Paradise Flycatcher of India, with its long drooping white tail. 
Case 32. Shrikes or Butcher-birds, the latter name derived from their 
habit of impaling insects and small birds on thorns. Cases 33-35 
contain the Thrushes, generally small birds of sombre coloration, but 
