ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2758, 29 April 1916, Page 7

ZOO NOTES

SOME NEW ARRIVALS ■ EASTER VISITORS • SOME GLIMPSES OF BIRD LIFE. [(By John Oastle, Secretary of''the Wellington 2001021081 Society.) "I read the Zoo Notes," saida lady • : at the Zoo recently; "they are interesting, and indicate the new things to be ;.■•. lookedfor when one has time to visit the Zoo. I always want to see what I have read about in the notes." Of course, expressions of that kind, and I am glad, that they are numerous, encourage men to write, and to feel glad that there is always something new to >'' .;■ write about. ... .. In Full Glory, This is the time when lovers of beauty ,'■■ ' '■"• should visit' the Zoo. At all times we can boast of having there the handsomest lion's head that there is in captivity in .the world; and we can boast of pur young lions, and of our Margay cat, and of our tooth-billed pigeon, find of our great spotted kiwi, and of hundreds of other very interesting exhibits; but , it seems unfortunate th.at at Christmas, when thousands of people visit the Zoo, and at some other times wlien we would like to see tho menagerie at its best, the ducks, the pheasants, and)'the peacocks, many of the stars of the Zoo • company, are in deshabille; but at Easter 'ter they shine in the full glory of unspeakable splendours. ■ Perseveranoe conquers. When Kaiser William\of Germany marched his armed legions forth to ehaly. lenge the British Empire, New Zealand, at the call of Great Britain, sent an Expeditionary Force to seize Samoa. At that time there were at Sanioa two industrious, frugal, peaceable, homely fruit-pigeons. They were seized, and, with a fiery-hearted, pugnacious member . of the tooth-billed species, and a rail, | and a dove, were transported to New' . Zealand. Here the gentle' fruit-eaters showed that they cared no more about the quarrel raging between Kaiser William and King George among the hills _of Europe than "about the fact that J Satan and . his angels' once . fought Michael and his angels on the plains of • heaven." The policy of the frui&pigeons evidently was:. ~ Let them that make the quarrels .-.' Be the only ones to fight, v Didunculus of the tooth billed order was evidently'of another kidney. He soon set himself' to fight everybody of his own size or less, and laid out the poor fruit-pigeon advocates of "peace at any price,- as two more evidences of the. immutably established fact -that .in this '. wonderful universe he that would • prosper, be he ant, or pigeon, or archangel, must learn to fight. However, having, by a merciful curator, been saved from death, the peaceable prisonors of war set themselves to establish a home beneath the . beneficent shadow of the Union Jack. First they tried one corner of a lawn, but that proved unsuitable, for a nest; then t'ney tried an opposite corner, but that proved equally : unsatisfactory,; afterwards they tried a sheltered corner" in. a, shed, but from that they were soon ejected, and moved-to-better, fur- . rushed quarters in v another enclosure. Here they soon built a very crude structure in a beautiful shrub, and, soon, in these congenial conditions, produced .; an egg and sat on it. Long and patient ] and -.faithful was the sitting: 'but. the result was nil. fjndauuted by. disappointment, as they had been unper-' turbed by .war, the peaceful birds repaired their crude, bare fortunes, produced another egg, and sat again. Then success favoured indomitable perseverance; and, as a result, to-day a fine young pigeon thrives- on a hard couch of twigs and reeds, where in his youth' he is being inured to hardships which seem to be the heritage of his peaceful and persistent race. . Recent Births in. the Zoo. Somewhere, hidden in semi-darkness, are young wolves that have never 'yet been exposed to public view; in another place a little kangaroo that was born weeks ago is carried-in a pouch; else- . where young frog-5,-some yet 'tailed, and others tailless, are attracting much attention. These, • with the young fruit pigeoii aforementioned, are tho special-

ties that have been born in the Zoo recently; and fantail pigeons, booted bantams, and rabbits of several varieties and multifarious colours, though very interesting to sevoral classes of observers, may be regarded as welcome, though not uncommon, additions. Little bunnies always charm children; and tho length and colours of the hair on tho young rabbits at present in the Zoo raiso questions of heredity, variety, aiid reversion that fhould be very interesting to students old and young. 'Hie Zoo was '.never, so full of interest as it is to-day. Encouraging Facts and Figures. How many peoplo visited the Zoo between the morning of Good Friday and the evening of Eastor Monday? Well, I have not an exact report, buf my calculation works out. as follows:—Good Friday, say 2500, or about that number, that paid for admission, and 3000 juveniles; Saturday, about 1250 payers and 2000 juveniles; Sunday (free day and showery), 1200 adults, and the 6ame number of juveniles; Easter Monday, about the same as on tho previous Saturday, 3300, say. Grand total, 14,450. My estimate is low, more than 15,000 persons visited the Zoo in the four days. And what great convulsions and strange sliake-ups were indicated by the motley fifteen thousand—Maoris and pakehas, New Zealanders and Tahitians, soldiers going to fight with Britons, and soldiers going to fight under the banner of our French Allies. What a glorious tribute to the management of the Zoo that drew the glorious 15,000. Luck-bringers. ■ We are told that in India there are sheep that have five horns each, and that a five-homed sheep can bo purchased for £5. It is said, also, that there are some eight-horned sheep, which can at times be procured for a \ pound a horn, but that these bring j their owners so much luck that it is not always easy to induce them to) sell. The Zoological Society is pledged to find £5 if Curator Laugridge pro- i cures a five-horned one; but the City ' Council thinks that, apart from the luck, an. eight-horned sheep should be more attractive than a five-norned, and, consequently, two eight-horned will ho purchased if practicable, the society contributing £5 to the cost. Of course, if thero be. any luck attached to tho sheep, or emanating from them, the Wellington Corporation and the Zoological Society will share it. Unprofitable Eggs. . The beautiful little hen king quail laid five eggs, but has not shown any intention to incubate them; and a lonely owl has laid three eggs, and is ' sitting very closely on them, although, of course, there is no possibility of ! hatching from them. However, the bird seems to be- happy: in the discharge of her self-imposed duty; and, for a while, it may bo a case in, which AVhere ignorance is bliss, 'Twere'folly to be wise. The Anzacs. We have' been told that some Australians have suggested that the name Anzac should be bestowed upon some bird, and' that a shrike, or magpie, should be selected to wear the glorious honour. Now, I do not want to vie with Australia in selecting a bird for the distinction that has been mentioned, hut, as one of tho members of tho Wellington Zoological Society has long been watching, for a favourable opportunity to change the name of tho most magnificent bird in the Wellington Zoo, I, with him, will take advantage of present circumstances to effect- the' change. Australians, and New Zealanders united to scale Gallipoli and try to open a way to Constantinople. By deeds of valour unrivalled they glorified themselves together. In tho momoraMo word Anzac their initials are appropriately blended. A bird to perpetuate that name worthily should be neither a native of Australia nor a native of New Zealand. Knowing, then, that the Turks never had any right to claim Maleagrina Gallipavo as their bird; that the deeds that raised the name Anzac into prominence were magnificent; and that tho bird misnamed the turkey glows with magnificence everywhere, and everywhere smokes in sacrifice for the welfare of tho World; the handsome bird too long misnamed, if not nick-named, the turkey shall, in' my ornithological notes in future, be worthily crowned with the honoured name of Anzac. Nursing the Baby. Soon-after the young- fruit-pigeon was hatched I asked a friend, who had watched the sitting, whether the male sat or the female, or both. He told me

that the parent birds divided the duties and hardships of sitting, bub that the mother seemed to have a very liberal shave of the incubating. "Aye," said my friend, "and if. you doubt my opinion that man is a little epitome of tho universe, you should watch the nursing of a baby fruit-pigeon.' When I was watching 1 noticed that while mamma presided in the avian nursery there was quiet and peaco and patience, but when the timo camo for mother to bo relieved, that she might "o and take some refreshment and prepare some food for tho infant, a great change took place. Paterfamilias very loyally took charge of the baby, hut a 'certain awkwardness and restlessness soon became only too evident; the baby moved and father called, but mother would not bo hurried. She fed, and rested, and took exercise, and listened, while louder and more and more earnestly' the big round, full voice of the agitated and perplexed and anxious pater sounded; while I stood and seemed to hear sounding through my memory echoes of my own troubles, and 1 said: "How wonderful are the harmonies of Nature, especially in the experiences of human fathers and fruitpigeons, when they are left at home to nurse tho babies."