K. Plath—-Birds at the New Chicago Zoological Park 173


THE BIRDS AT THE NEW' CHICAGO

ZOOLOGICAL PARK


By Karl Plath

Curator of Birds


I—The Perching-bird House


Winter is an excellent time to visit the bird-houses at the Brookfield

Zoo, the popular name of the Chicago Zoological Park, for most of the

birds are easily seen in their winter quarters and all are in fine plumage,

though there are a few exceptions where the “ eclipse ” plumage is

in evidence. Probably an inspection from cage to cage will be interesting.


Entering from the south gate the first bird building we come to is the

Perching-bird House. It is a large white building with a pretentious

fa 9 ade and is the centre one of three situated on a stone terrace over¬

looking the magnificent formal pool. Inside there is a large central

hall flanked at each end by a broad passage and all the walls are lined

with wall cages, sixty-three in number and varying from 42 inches in

width up to the large community cages 12 feet across. The backgrounds

are painted a delicate shade of pale blue and natural branches arranged

so far as is possible for practicability in an artistic manner are used

rather than the plain wooden perches. In the centre is a good sized

flying-cage, 12 by 21 feet, to accommodate some of the larger birds,

Magpies, Jays, etc. The south end of the building is devoted to the South

American varieties. So far as is possible we have the birds arranged

geographically—-of course it is not always practicable to do this because

of the arrangement of the cages, as they are grouped according to size.

The first birds noticed will be the Toucans. These grotesque birds are

probably well known to every one interested in birds, at least by

reputation, for their huge, brilliantly-coloured beaks compel notice.

At present we have four varieties, the larger Toco, with a beak of vivid

orange and scarlet tipped with an oval black spot, the Bed-billed whose

beak is mostly crimson shading to black at the end and with greenish-

yellow ridge and base, the Ariel and the Sulphur and White breasted,

both with jet black bills, the base in the former yellow and in the latter

pale blue. All have the general colour deep black but in the Toco and



