ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
31 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
SrpartmrntB: 
Mammals Aquarium 
W. T. Hornaday. C. H. Townsend. 
Birds Reptiles 
Lee S. Crandall. Raymond L. Ditmars 
William Beebe. Honorary Curator, Birds 
Published bi-monthly at the Office of the Society. 
Ill Broadway. New York City. 
Copy, 25 Cents Yearly, $1.50 
MAILED FREE TO MEMBERS 
Copyright. 1922, by the New York Zoological Society. 
Subscription and Editorial Offices 
ZOOLOGICAL PARK. NEW YORK CITY 
Elwin R. Sanborn, Editor 
Each author is responsible for the scientific accuracy 
and the proof readinsr of his contribution. 
Vol. XXV March, 1922 No. 2 
dividually, but large aviaries contain many 
species, though occasionally a great many of 
one variety may be on view together. A recent 
exhibition of several hundred Gouldian finches 
made a striking picture. 
A special feature in the aviary collection is 
a number of birds of paradise, from four to six 
species usually being represented. These lovely 
birds are found to thrive well out of doors, pro¬ 
vided they do not get too much light. They love 
to bask in the sun—especially when moulting— 
for an hour or two, but it is necessary for them 
to be able to retire to deep shade for the greater 
part of the day. Their love of display is re¬ 
markable, and every genus so far observed has 
a radically different way of showing off its 
especial charms. The most grotesque perhaps 
is that of Diphallodis magnified. 
An effort is being made to form a “rookery” 
of wild ibis and herons in the park. Many 
young birds are being turned out unpinioned. 
A good series of cranes, storks, swans, ducks, 
geese, game birds, and running birds are on 
view in open paddocks and ponds. None of 
these receive any shelter except that provided 
by trees and bushes. 
Taronga Park has cost to date about £130,- 
000. A small charge (sixpence) is made for 
admission. The revenue from gates together 
with the net profit from the refreshment rooms 
gives a return of about £17,000 or $85,000, 
Yvhich is sufficient for all expenses of upkeep. 
The attendance is about 500,000 annually. 
MR. A. S. LE SOUEF 
Late in January the Zoological Park received 
with pleasure a visit from Mr. A. S. LeSouef, 
designer and Director of the Taronga Park Zoo, 
at Sydney, Australia. Elsewhere in this issue 
of the Bulletin appears an article by him de¬ 
scribing the remarkable out-of-doors institution 
that he did so much to create. 
Mr. LeSouef is the brother of the justly fa¬ 
mous W. H. Dudley LeSouef, Director of the 
Melbourne Zoological Gardens; and the third 
brother of the zoological trio, E. A. LeSouef, 
is Director of the Zoological Gardens at Perth, 
West Australia. Late in 1921 the Sydney di¬ 
rector arrived in London with a large collection 
of Australian and New Guinea birds and mam¬ 
mals, including half a dozen birds of paradise, 
and two lung-fishes. 
The most interesting piece of zoological news 
brought to us by Mr. LeSouef concerned the 
important work on the Mammals of Australia 
that he is preparing for publication in the not 
far-distant future, and also the work on the 
Birds of Australia that will appear perhaps 
about 1923. 
Mr. LeSouef’s investigation of the mam¬ 
malian life of the great central aboreal desert 
of Australia will, when published, be of keen 
interest to all mammalogists. 
A VICTORY OVER THE LONDON 
FEATHER TRADE. 
I'or about two months a contest has been go¬ 
ing on in London in the Parliamentary Com¬ 
mittee on the Importation-of-Plumage Act. 
Through its two representatives in the Commit¬ 
tee, the London Feather Trade has been con¬ 
tending for the admission of egret plumage, on 
the ground that the supply comes from Vene¬ 
zuela, where no egrets are killed, and all egret 
plumes are obtained in the swamps and jungles 
from birds that drop them in the annual moult¬ 
ing process. The'bird-defending members of 
the Committee, headed by Mrs. Reginald Mc¬ 
Kenna, have strenuously resisted this demand, 
and disputed its soundness. 
In a hurried note from Mrs. McKenna, dated 
February 10, we are informed, without details, 
that in the egret contest in the Committee the 
feather trade was finally defeated by a vote of 
six to two. The discussion lasted two days. 
“Having won over the egret,” says Mrs. Mc¬ 
Kenna, “we feel that most of the others, if not 
all, are safe; and it is a great relief. So far 
we have lost only Rhea rothschildii.” 
Inasmuch as the bird defenders are rejoiced 
over the result of the contest, we, also, may 
cheerfully assume the right to be glad, even 
without full details. 
