Jan. 20, 1912.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
83 
Zoological Society Annual Meeting. 
The eighteenth annual meeting of the New 
York Zoological Society was held in the ball¬ 
room of the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria on Tuesday, 
Jan. 9. Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, president, 
presided, and Madison Grant, chairman of the 
executive committee, read the report of that 
committee for the year 1911. 
The report showed that the membership of the 
society had increased during the year, and urged 
the members to make efforts to still further en¬ 
large the list. During the year a series of ten 
new bear dens has been practically completed, 
as has also an eagle and vulture aviary. Both 
buildings will be put in use next spring. It is 
purposed to erect in Baird Court a house for 
the anthropoid apes for the large collection of 
chimpanzees and orangs owned by the society. 
A hospital and quarantine, as well as other ad¬ 
ministrative buildings, are to be erected during 
the year. 
Reference has already been made in Forest 
AND Stream to various events of the year. The 
little gorilla brought from Africa lived only 
eleven days in the park; the Siberian tigers are 
doing well and growing fast. From Paul J. 
Rainey have been received a number of animals 
including a hyena, a cape hunting dog and two 
leopards. Two new and rare South American 
bears have been received. The national collec¬ 
tion of heads and horns received through the 
generosity of Clarence Mackay twelve large 
Alaska moose horns mounted, ten wapiti and 
four bison. 
The endowment fund has been increased and 
is now $283,062. The decision of the city to 
build a new aquarium and the appropriation of 
$200,000 as a beginning has already been told of 
in Forest and Stream. 
After the report of the executive committee. 
Dr. Hornaday made some remarks on game pro¬ 
tection, and Dr. Charles H. Townsend, director 
of the New York Aquarium, described with lan¬ 
tern slides the expedition of the Albatross under 
the auspices of the Zoological Society and the 
American Museum of Natural History to Guada¬ 
lupe Island off Southern California, and the dis¬ 
covery of the herd of elephant seals and the cap¬ 
ture of the specimens now on exhibition at the 
Aquarium. Dr. Townsend’s account was extra¬ 
ordinarily vivid and interesting, and his pictures 
very beautiful. He held his audience. 
C. William Beebe, curator of birds at the Zoo¬ 
logical Park, who had just returned from his 
expedition around the world to study pheasants, 
exhibited many photographs of strange birds and 
of distant lands collected during his absence. 
Mr. Beebe was accompanied by Mrs. Beebe, and 
his pictures were very interesting and his talk 
was greatly applauded. 
Paul E. Akeley, who has just returned from 
Africa, showed a number of pictures of elephants 
and other African game and described a number 
of his adventures in his search for material for 
a mounted elephant group in the American 
Museum of Natural History. Mr. Akeley very 
modestly did not tell of the most surprising ad¬ 
ventures that he had; such as choking to death 
a leopard with his bare hands and being left for 
dead by an attacking bull elephant. 
At the close of the meeting the following can¬ 
didates were chosen to the outgoing class of the 
board of managers for 1912: Levi P. Morton, 
Henry A. C. Taylor, Andrew Carnegie, Hugh J. 
Chisholm, John L. Cadwalader, Frank K. Stur¬ 
gis, Madison Grant, Geo. J. Gould, Wm. White 
Niles. Ogden Mills, Samuel Thorn and Lewis 
Rutherford Morris. 
Belated Migrants. 
Hendersonville, N. C., Jan. 13. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: We are having winter. Two snow 
storms, one of three inches, were followed by 
sleet and rain, leaving a sheet of ice dangerous 
for both man and beast, and now, just when 
most of this was melted, comes a fall of four 
inches of light soft snow. All last winter we 
did not have one-quarter of an inch of snow 
and sleet. Another thing rather “out of com¬ 
mon” is this: In the middle of December there 
were numbers of robins up here. I saw one to¬ 
day. I do not remember robins in mid-winter 
before. Also I saw a mockingbird here to-day. 
Evidently he has become acclimated, and I ex¬ 
pect to hear him as usual in early spring. And 
how he can sing! I am sure after this winter 
passes he will be so full of song he will find it 
difficult to contain himself. The sunshine and 
balmy air will have the effect it must always 
have on the feathered songsters. 
But I would have thought all this rough cold 
weather would have sent all these birds “down 
South” long ago. 
Evident!}^ cold weather arrived rather late in 
the North and this December delegation of robins 
was delayed in the migration. They did not 
stay long, and the one I saw to-day must be 
very lonesome and no doubt will hasten his de¬ 
parture. 
Quail shooting (except for pot-hunters) has 
been out of the question since the snow fell. No 
sportsman cares to take advantage of the birds 
at such times as this when snow covers the 
ground. 
No doubt the birds are suffering, not only from 
the pot-hunters, but from the difficulty in getting 
food. The Ewart law is for this reason among 
others the worst ever made. Quail should be 
shot in November and December in this coun¬ 
try and protected after Jan. i. 'There is also a 
clause in his law “that it shall be illegal to trap 
or sell quail except during the months of January 
and February,” thus legalizing just what all 
sportsmen have tried to stop all these years, and 
in the worst months. No trouble to trap any 
grain-eating birds now, and it is more than a 
pity; it is a shame. 
Ernest L. Ewbank. 
Newport News, Va., Jan. ii.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: I am sending you the head of a 
bird. My opinion has been asked as to what 
this bird is. I think it is an English starling. 
Am I right? Many hundreds of these birds 
have been seen in this locality during the last 
few days in flocks. Have they ever been seen 
as far south as this before? B. B. Semmes. 
[The bird was a starling. As yet the habits 
and range of the English starling in America 
are not generally known; in the vicinity of New 
York city they are frequently seen in small 
groups in winter. One flock numbering about 
twenty has been seen every day in a village in 
Northern New Jersey. They made no attempt 
to leave last week when the mercury dropped as 
low as 5 and 10 degrees below zero, but sought 
shelter on the leeward side of buildings and in 
wi;d cherry trees. Before the ground was 
covered'with snow, this flock fed on lawns and 
in gardens, always returning to the old cherry 
trees. 
Possibly the starlings mentioned by Mr. Sem¬ 
mes were driven southward by storms, but as 
they increase in numbers it is to be expected that 
they will spread further and further away from 
the places where they are now fairly numerous. 
The starling at a distance appears to be black, 
but closer inspection will show that the feathers 
are tipped with white or light brown. The tail 
is very short. On the ground they do not hop, 
but walk. Feeding, they run rapidly a few feet, 
stop, then run again quite rapid’y.— Editor.] 
Norton Sound Bears and Caribou. 
A geographical Survey report, recently pub¬ 
lished, speaks of an abundance of caribou sign 
in the higher hills between the Yukon River 
and Norton Sound, Alaska. These deer are 
abundant in the region specified, though further 
west they are almost entirely wanting. It is 
stated also that the domesticated reindeer, held 
there by the Government, or private ownership, 
and which are herded near the mouth of the 
Shaktolik, are moved from place to place, and 
sometimes these animals stray away and be¬ 
come wild. 
In the less frequented parts of the region 
bears are comparatively numerous. Well trod¬ 
den bear trails run along the Shaktolik for 
many miles, used by the bears during the sal¬ 
mon season, when they visit the river to fish. 
During the bear season bear signs are abundant 
along many rivers. Trappers and prospectors 
report that lots of the bears are rather large 
and brown in color, very few black bears being 
found. 
Caribou and bears are the only two large ani¬ 
mals in the region. 
The Captive Elephant Seals. 
The six elephant seals sent back by Dr. 
Charles H. Townsend, director of the New York 
Aquarium, until within a few weeks throve so 
well and were so voracious that they promised 
to eat the New York Zoological Society out of 
house and home. Two of the animals were sent 
to Washington, and shortly after that two others 
died suddenly. This seems to be the fate of 
most captive animals. It is impossible to keep 
them under natural conditions and sooner or 
later they must perish. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any nezvsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
