Jan. i6, 1909.] 
93 
New York Zoological Sociely Meeting. 
At the annual meeting of the New York 
Zoological Society, held Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 
the Hotel Plaza, this city, the executive com¬ 
mittee of the Zoological Society made its re¬ 
port. The committee consists of Prof. H. F. 
Osborn, Chairman, with Hon. Levi P. Morton, 
W. W. Niles, P. R. Pyne, Samuel Thorn, John 
S. Barnes and Madison Grant. 
The attendance at the Zoological Park for the 
year 1908 exceeded 1,400,000, and that at the 
New York Aquarium exceeded 2,500,000, prob¬ 
ably the largest attendance of any scientific 
institution in the world. This makes a total 
attendance of about 3,900,000 for both the Park 
and the Aquarium, which exceeds that of last 
year by half a million. 
Over $12,000 has been expended on the pur¬ 
chase of animals during 1908. The purchases 
include one Indian rhinoceros, three ibex, one 
Grevy zebra, one pair of ostriches, one Malay 
tapir, three clouded leopards, two imperial 
pythons, two cassowarys, one chimpanzee, one 
elephant, one baboon, and one markhor. Dur¬ 
ing the year the animal fund was replenished 
by special subscriptions amounting to $4,015. 
The elephant house has been completed and 
opened, and is acknowledged to be the finest 
zoological building in the world. The construc¬ 
tion of a very extensive and important series of 
yards for animals, and of walks around the 
elephant house, is now in full progress. Various 
other improvements have been completed. 
Work on the Administration Building is in 
progress, and it should be completed by 
October, 1909. When this building is ready for 
use the members of the society will be pro¬ 
vided with suitable accommodations in the 
park, which heretofore have been lacking. The 
plans provide for spacious reception rooms and 
offices, space for the library of the society, and 
for the National Collection of Heads and 
Horns. The Administration Building is located 
on the northeast corner of Baird Court, and 
completes the plan of that portion of the park. 
The National Collection of Heads and Horns 
has been much enlarged by gifts and has 
grown to notable proportions. The second 
brochure on the collection has been published. 
There have been 158 specimens, consisting 
chiefly of mounted heads, presented since the 
publication of Part I. of the brochure. George 
J. Gould has purchased and presented the entire 
collection of trophies gathered in Africa by Dr. 
A. Donaldson Smith, which includes representa¬ 
tions of the most important animals of North¬ 
eastern Africa, between Lake Rudolph, 
Abyssinia, and the Indian Ocean. 
The installation of the closed system of cir¬ 
culation of pure sea water has at last been com¬ 
pleted in the New York Aquarium. The 
reservoir contains 100,000 gallons of pure sea 
water, which has made it possible to stock the 
Aquarium with tropical fishes and invertebrates 
hitherto impossible to keep. 
The society has great need of additional mem¬ 
bers, and each present member should do what 
he can to aid the organization by sending in 
the names of applicants for membership. 
Following the report. Prof. Osborn placed 
before the society the plans of the executive 
committee for the protection of the fauna of 
North America, with the recommendation that 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
this work be undertaken on a large scale. 
Chas. H. Townsend, Director of the Aquarium, 
gave an illustrated address on “Instantaneous 
Color Changes in Tropical Fishes at the Aquar¬ 
ium.” 
Clinton G. Abbott gave an illustrated paper 
on “Expression of Emotion in Birds” as 
Shown by the Camera,” and Miss Mary C. 
Dickerson, a paper on “Winter Life of Birds 
and Small Mammals,” with illustrations. 
The New England Forest, Fish and Game 
Association permitted the showing of a series 
of moving pictures of leaping salmon. 
Rabbits in Australia. 
Like California, southern Australia is a land 
where vegetation grows luxuriantly, and where 
such pests as the rabbit increase in numbers to 
such an extent that the greatest efforts must be 
put forth to raise anything marketable. Poison¬ 
ing, trapping, shooting and snaring account for 
but few of the vast hordes of rabbits, and the 
first named method, while effective, is not devoid 
of danger, for song birds, small domestic ani¬ 
mals and even cattle at times fall victims to the 
lures placed for rabbits. The sale of rabbit 
poisons alone in Australia is a large item, and 
beside the standard, strychnine, numerous patent¬ 
ed poisons are advertised and sold there. 
In traveling through paddocks it is an easy 
matter to see where rabbits are numerous, 
though the little animals may not be seen run¬ 
ning about except in the early morning and late 
evening; but such damage is done to young 
green grass or herbage that the observant readily 
notes. Take, for instance, two squatters adjoin¬ 
ing; one poisons and traps constantly; the other, 
being short of laborers, lets bunny have his fling 
for a while. Rain comes, and on the rich alluvial 
soil springs up a quick-growing succulent herb 
called crowsfoot; as soon as the green shows 
above ground, where the rabbits are numerous, 
it is immediately eaten off, so that when the 
squatter comes to traverse his paddock, instead 
of finding in the sand hills green, succulent feed 
for his flocks, he sees to his disgust what the 
rabbits have done for him. On the other side 
of the fence (his neighbor’s run) his envious 
eyes, feasting on the splendid feed seen there, 
note too late his own mistake. 
The expense of the wire netting, according 
to the Illustrated and Dramatic News, is gre'dt, 
not only the actual first cost, but carriage from 
the nearest railway (sometimes a distance of 
one hundred miles and more), and then erection 
of the netting. The principal means of keeping 
bunny in check are by laying poison in various 
ways. That most generally adopted is by phos¬ 
phorus mixed with pollard and sugar into a thick 
mass. This is put into a specially prepared drum 
in a poison cart (also a costly item). This cart 
is built on something the same lines as a 
‘ sulky,” with a small iron plow attached under¬ 
neath, which the driver of the cart (sitting on 
his small iron seat) manipulates very easily. 
This plow makes a tiny furrow, and into this a 
mechanical contrivance drops small baits or 
pellets of the poisoned pollard. Rabbits will 
run along the freshly-turned furrow and take 
the baits readily. 
Birds of the Sea. 
During their visit last year to Cay Verde, 
Frank M. Chapman and Hon. Geo. Shiras, 3d, 
found about 3,000 boobies (Sula ftber') nesting 
on the cay. Most of the nests contained a single 
half grown bird, but in a number of instances 
fresh laid eggs were found, while a few birds 
of the year were already able to fly. It was 
thought that about 600 man-of-war birds {Fre- 
gata aquila) were nesting on the cay. Collec¬ 
tions of specimens, nests, eggs and the necessary 
accessories, together with a large number of 
photographs, were secured. 
In the same report is a resume of the studies 
of Prof. John B. Watson, on the reaction and 
Instincts of sea gulls during their nesting period. 
Prof. Watson’s studies were carried on under 
very trying circumstances, for he lived con¬ 
tinuously upon Bird Key for two months 
through the hottest season, when the tempera¬ 
ture of the sand, upon which the birds lay their 
eggs, rose to 120 degrees B'ahrenheit. He lived 
in the old deserted yellow fever hospital, which 
was used when the island was a quarantine sta¬ 
tion. Among other things demonstrated by his 
observation was the fact that if the sooty terns 
and noddies were taken to Cape Hatteras and 
then liberated they would return to their nests 
on Bird Key, Tortugas, a distance of 850 statute 
miles from the place of liberation. 
EFFECT OF A RABBIT-PROOF FENCE IN AUSTRALIA. 
One side eaten bare by rabbits, the other showing a luxuriant growth of grass. 
