Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 23

Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 23

The Coscoroba Goose, (_Coscoroba coscoroba_), is a fair connecting link

between the swans and the ducks, partaking about equally of the

characters of each. In size and color it is very much like our snow

goose, (_Chen hyperborea_), but it is peculiar in possessing very long

legs of a bright pink color, by which it is quickly recognized. Its

bill, also is pink, and the tips of its primaries are black. The

Coscoroba Goose is a native of southern South America, and a few years

ago specimens were so rare in captivity that a pair sold for $300.

 

 

THE FLYING CAGE, No. 4.

 

This mammoth bird-cage is one of the wonders of the Zoological Park. It

represents an attempt to do for certain large and showy water birds,

precisely what has been done for the hoofed animals, the beaver, otter,

and other species—give them a section of Nature’s own domain. In this

they can fly to and fro, build nests and rear their young in real

freedom.

 

Near the lower end of Bird Valley, as a sort of climax for the Goose

Aviary when seen from the north, rises a lofty, web-like structure, in

the form of a huge, gothic arch. It is 55 feet in height, 75 feet wide,

and 152 feet long. The whole structure consists of a series of

steel-pipe arches and purlins, the former eight feet apart, over which

wire-netting has been tightly stretched.

 

The wire-netting seems peculiarly open. It is of the kind known as

chain-netting, which offers the least possible obstruction to the eye.

This cage is so large that a very respectable block of houses, three

stories high and of ample dimensions, could stand within it without

touching the wire. It completely encloses three forest trees of very

considerable size, two hickories and an oak; and it contains a pool of

water a hundred feet long, and shrubbery in abundance.

 

[Illustration: CEREOPSIS GEESE.]

 

The idea of a very large cage for herons and egrets, is not new, for

there are in existence several other flying cages, somewhat smaller than

this. The first was erected in the Rotterdam Zoological Garden by its

Director, the late Dr. A. Von Bemmelin, whose experiment proved very

successful. Others are at London and in Paris Jardin d’Acclimatation.

 

The Flying Cage is the summer home of a mixed flock of such large and

showy water birds as are most inclined to fly about within it, and

afford students and the public an opportunity to study their movements

and attitudes. Save for such allowances as must be made for accidents

and epidemics, this enclosure will contain the following noteworthy

species, along with others of less importance:

 

The American Flamingo, (_Phoenicopterns ruber_), is, in appearance, a

connecting link between the herons and ducks, resembling the former in

the great length of its legs, and the latter in the duck-like bill and

webbed feet. When the plumage of this species is perfect, it is of a

beautiful scarlet color throughout, excepting the primaries, which are

black. In captivity, the color fades somewhat. This bird is found in the

Bahama Islands and Cuba, but in Florida, where once it was fairly

numerous, it no longer exists. Fortunately, this remarkable bird takes

kindly to captivity, and the Zoological Park is never without a

good-sized flock. Their strange form, showy colors and droll attitudes

render them unusually interesting to visitors.

 

[Illustration: WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS.]

 

[Illustration: ROSEATE SPOONBILL.]

 

With the birds of the above species are shown a few specimens of the

European Flamingo, (_P. roseus_), which is almost white. The only parts

which show the characteristic scarlet of this genus, are the wing

coverts, which are pale red, or pink.

 

The Scarlet Ibis, (_Guara rubra_), is for its size the most showy bird

in existence, not even excepting the birds of paradise. Excepting the

black primaries, every feather on the adult bird in perfect plumage is

of a brilliant Chinese vermilion color, visible in nature for a long

distance. The immature birds are mottled and patched with white. This

species once came as far north as southern Florida, but now it is found

only from Cuba southward. They frequent the mud banks at the various

mouths of the Orinoco, and not long since were quite abundant on the

coast of British Guiana.

 

The White-Faced Glossy Ibis, (_Plegadis guarauna_), is not a rare bird

in captivity, and it will doubtless be possible to maintain this species

perpetually in the Flying Cage and Aquatic-Bird House.

 

The Wood Ibis, (_Tantalus loculator_).—The Park obtains its supply of

birds of this species from Florida, where they breed, in very greatly

reduced numbers, on the headwaters of the St. Johns. This bird is a very

satisfactory member of avian society. Although amply large to lord it

over the other birds of the cage, he quarrels with none, but peacefully

goes his way, feeling with the point of his beak along the sandy bottom

of the pool for something edible, or standing in quiet meditation on the

bank. Notwithstanding its common name, this bird is not an ibis, but a

true stork. In its black and white plumage it is quite a handsome bird.

Although not so fond of using its wings in captivity as are herons and

egrets, the Wood Ibis is for many reasons a very welcome tenant.

 

The White Stork, (_Ciconia ciconia_), is as large as our wood ibis,

which it strongly resembles in form and habits. This bird is literally

the household bird of Germany, and its place in the family has now

become of more importance than its place in nature. Throughout Holland,

Germany, and very nearly the whole of eastern and central Europe, the

White Stork is so prized and protected by the people that it has

attained a state of semi-domestication. Nesting places are prepared for

it, usually near or even upon human habitations, and it enjoys an

immunity from molestation quite like that of the adjutant in India.

 

The Great Blue Heron, (_Ardea herodias_), is frequently called the “blue

crane”; but the latter name is a misnomer. It properly belongs to our

sandhill crane (_Grus canadensis_). Just why so large a number of people

should be so persistent in this error is a psychological problem; but

the fact remains that people will not say “heron.”

 

This Great Blue Heron is the largest and most noteworthy bird of our

northern marshes. Thanks to the fact that it bears no desirable

“plumes,” and its flesh is not edible, it has been permitted to live.

When not molested, it becomes quite trustful, and when wading along a

shore, fishing for minnows, it affords for the field-glass or the camera

a very interesting subject. In summer these birds are quite numerous in

the marshes along the Shrewsbury River, between Sandy Hook and Long

Branch, and they are an unfailing source of interest to excursionists.

It is sincerely to be hoped that the evil eye of “Dame Fashion” will not

fall upon this bird, and cause its extermination.

 

The Great White Heron, (_Ardea americana_), is taller than the great

blue heron, and it is the largest of all the white herons and egrets.

Like the whooping crane, it is now a bird of such exceeding rarity that

the procuring of a specimen may be counted a stroke of good fortune. In

eight years the Zoological Park has secured only three specimens, all of

which came from southern Florida.

 

The Little Blue Heron, (_Florida caerulea_).—The immature birds of this

species are snowy white, and so closely resemble snowy herons of the

same age, that only one well acquainted with both can distinguish

between them. They are, however, separately recognized by the fact that

the snowy heron has black legs, and a black bill, whereas the legs and

bill of the Little Blue Heron are pale yellow. This species is still

common in some parts of its Florida home, and occasionally a specimen

strays as far north as Staten Island.

 

The Louisiana Heron, (_Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis_), once very

numerous in Florida, is still found there, but in greatly reduced

numbers. It ranges from Central America and the West Indies northward to

the Gulf States, and occasionally to Long Island. The general coloring

is dark blue, but a prominent distinguishing character is the chestnut

brown on the sides of the neck.

 

The Black-Crowned Night Heron, (_Nycticorax nycticorax naevius_), is one

of the commonest herons about New York City and occasionally nests in

the Park itself. It breeds in large colonies, and feeds chiefly at

night. Its note is a hoarse _quok_, very much like the bark of a dog.

 

The Snowy Heron, or Snowy Egret, (_Egretta candidissima_), when fully

adult, is the most beautiful white bird in all the avian world. Its form

is the embodiment of symmetry and grace, its plumage is immaculate, and

the filmy “plumes” on its head and back are like spun glass. Its black

legs and bill merely serve to intensify the whiteness of its feathers.

The vanity of woman has been the curse of the Snowy Egret. Its plumes

are finest during the breeding season, and it was then that the hunters

sought them, slaughtering the old birds in the rookeries by thousands

(when they were abundant), and leaving the nestlings to die of

starvation. If all women could know the price in blood and suffering

which is paid for the accursed “aigrettes” of fashion, surely but few

could find any pleasure in wearing them. It is strange that civilized

woman—the tender-hearted, the philanthropic, and the

ever-compassionate—should prove to be the evil genius of the world’s

most beautiful birds.

 

In the United States the Snowy Egret now exists only by accident, and

the “plume hunters” are pursuing this and the following species in

Central and South America, to their most remote haunts, sometimes even

at the risk of their lives. Fashion has decreed that the egrets must go.

 

[Illustration: BROWN AND WHITE PELICANS.]

 

The American Egret, (_Herodias egretta_).—Much to the misfortune of this

species, it possesses about fifty “aigrette” plumes which droop in

graceful curves from the middle of its back far beyond the tail and wing

tips. For these beautiful feathers this bird has been pursued by plume

hunters almost to the point of total extermination in the United States.

 

The White Pelican, (_Pelecanus erythrorhynchus_), is one of the largest

birds of North America and by reason of its size, its pure white

plumage, its enormously long amber-colored bill and gular pouch, it is

one of the most showy birds in the aviary. As consumers of fish they

stand pre-eminent among birds, and their only rivals in the Park are the

sea-lions. The specimens exhibited were collected for the Society in

southern Texas.

 

The Brown Pelican, (_Pelecanus occidentalis_), when adult, is a handsome

and showy bird, and one which not only is easily reconciled to life in a

comfortable aviary, but positively enjoys it. The specimens in our

collection were collected for the Society on Pelican Island, Florida,

and their interesting home life at that place may be studied from the

series of photographs on exhibition in the Aquatic Bird House. When

their daily allowance of fish appears they crowd around their keeper,

and with wide-open pouches earnestly solicit contributions.

 

 

THE AQUATIC BIRD HOUSE, No. 5.

 

This building is the result of an attempt to solve an old problem in a

new way—the care of large migratory water birds in the most uneven

winter climate on earth. In comparison with the care in winter of

flamingoes, large herons, egrets, ibises, and the like, the housing of

perching birds, birds of prey and the parrots, presents few

difficulties. But the wealth of fine water birds in North America alone,

and the interest attaching to them, seem to justify the labor and

expense that have been involved in this building and its appointments.

Practically all of the birds to be seen in this building in winter are mentioned elsewhere in this volume.