Maryland Academy of Sciences. 
Baltimore, Md., Jan. 6.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: With this I am sending you a couple 
of photographs, one of the American widgeon 
(Mareca americana) ; the other of the European 
widgeon ( Mareca penelope). 
The European widgeon is a specimen killed 
Nov. 12, 1910, at Carroll’s Island, Md., by J. 
O. Norris, of Baltimore, who in his note of 
gift states that he has known of but two being 
killed on the island in forty years. 
“The American Waterfowl Family,’’ by Leon¬ 
ard C. Sanford and others, speaking of the 
European widgeon, says: “This bird is a rare 
straggler to the United States, the most note¬ 
worthy instances of its occurence being on Long 
Island, December, 1884, at Alexandria, Va., and 
r r 
EUROPEAN WIDGEON. 
occasionally along the coast of California. One 
full plumaged male was killed on the Illinois 
River, and one full plumaged male was killed 
on Long Island in 1899.” 
The description given by this author, exactly 
fits the specimen now in my possession. It 
is: Adult Male: Forehead and top of head 
white; sometimes buff (mine is buff); rest of 
head rufous brown; cluster of small green spots 
behind eye; chin and throat black; breast, pink¬ 
ish-brown; back and sides undulated with black 
and white; wing covers, white; speculum green; 
lower parts white; under tail covers, black; 
tail pointed, brownish, becoming black at tip; 
iris, hazel; bill, slate; nail, black; legs and feet, 
slate, with dusky webs. 
That it occurs more frequently than is sup¬ 
posed would be indicated by the fact that in 
some localities gunners speak of a red-headed 
widgeon, supposing the bird to be a cross be¬ 
tween the red-headed and the common (Amer¬ 
ican) widgeon. The widgeon has been known 
to reach the age of twenty-three years. 
Any correspondence giving data concerning 
this bird will be much appreciated by 
H. Lindley, 
Chairman of the Ornithological Bureau. 
[The author, of “American Duck Shooting” 
says of the European widgeon: “This species 
belongs to the old world, yet has been over 
much of the new. It -occurs regularly in Alaska 
and breeds there, and, no doubt, it is due to this 
fact that it has been killed in California, Illinois, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia 
and Florida. I have killed it in North Carolina, 
but it occurs there so seldom that it is not at 
all known to gunners, and my boatman, when 
he picked up this bird, took it at first for a red¬ 
head and afterward for a hybrid.” 
Since this was written we have known of sev¬ 
eral other specimens being killed in North 
Carolina, where the European widgeon when 
seen is usually found associated with the Amer¬ 
ican widgeon or the gadwall.— Editor.] 
The Recent Exposition at Odessa. 
Although the recent exposition at Odessa 
was gotten up by the Imperial Society of South 
Russia, aided by nearly all branches of industry, 
art and culture, it was not a financial success, 
says Consul John H. Grout. 
Among the many causes of this, the two fol¬ 
lowing are given: An exposition at Ekater- 
inoslav, 250 miles distant, and in the vital center 
of Russia, which was well managed and well 
attended; and the prevalence of cholera, which, 
although in a mild form, kept many people 
away. 
Of live things, perhaps the greatest attention 
was drawn by the exhibit of a wealthy land- 
owner, who devotes much of his time and 
spends large amounts in the acclimatization of 
various exotic animals, such as zebras, ante¬ 
lopes, bison, Asiatic wild horses, birds, pheas¬ 
ants, flamingoes, ostriches, etc., and to the do¬ 
mestication of some of the wildfowl which were 
so plentiful here at one time, as, for instance, 
giant bustards, of which a fine pair, perfectly 
tame, but a little vicious, were exhibited. The 
greatest interest in this exhibition centered in 
the crosses between horses and zebras, and be¬ 
tween bison, as well as the Russian “zebur,” 
and domestic cattle. The first are very finely 
marked animals, of the size of the pony, bulky, 
strong, and good workers, but not capable of 
propagation, either with horses, zebras, or 
among themselves. The hybrids from bisons 
and domesticated cattle were fine large animals, 
capable of further breeding with pure-blooded 
bison or cattle. They are somewhat intract¬ 
able but submit to the yoke, and are expected 
to give finely flavored dark meat. There were 
also some pure-blooded American and Euro¬ 
pean bison born upon the estate of the ex¬ 
hibitor. In this way bison may be saved from 
extinction by the infusion of new blood, and 
by forming separate herds, widely apart, from 
which procreators may be circulated. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
Endowment Fund for the New York 
Zoological Society. 
Since its establishment the New York Zoo¬ 
logical Society had contributed, up to the end 
of the year 1909, nearly $500,000 in annual 
contributions and outright gifts to its park 
in the Bronx. Of this great sum, a large por¬ 
tion was spent on building walks, and other 
construction work at the park, which work 
ought to have been borne by the city, which 
the Park so greatly benefits. Nevertheless, 
as the city was slow to provide funds for this 
work, it seemed best to the society to do it 
in order that the public might realize what 
the Park was and might have some intima¬ 
tion of what it would be. 
In December, 1909, the Executive Com- 
TVfy; ,, C * ^*3# ' : -.. ;l 
mittee of the society determined that the 
time had then come for the establishment of an 
endowment fund. 
This was required for many reasons, of 
which the perishable character of a collection 
of living animals is one of the most obvious 
and important. The animals in such a 
collection cannot be compared to the ob¬ 
jects gathered in a museum or a library. 
Those are permanent and constantly increas¬ 
ing in value, while living animals collected 
from all parts of the world, held in confinement 
and necessarily under more or less unnatural 
conditions, need to be constantly replaced. 
The park having been substantially com¬ 
pleted, stocked with animals and established 
in the public esteem, the society felt that the 
next essential step was to provide the nucleus 
of an endowment fund of at least $1,000,000 
for the following purposes: 
(1) Permanence of the society and thus 
of the park and aquarium. 
(2) Scientific exploration and publication 
such as is conducted by other similar so¬ 
cieties in other parts of the world. 
(3) Protection of animal life as the so¬ 
ciety’s part in the great conservation move- 
0 , Of ua 
