NATURE NOTES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3175, 28 August 1917, Page 7

NATURE NOTES

(By John Crowes.)

Soon nfter 1 declined an ofler oi renomination tor the presidency ot the Wellington Zoological faocie y, wherl had held the office for several 3 «a b Mi. Castle, the secretary and treasurer ■ otthe society, agreed for life suno to appear at the head of the Zoo Notes that he and I had collaborated to produce for the columns of The Dominion- tfut recktly the citizens of Wellington made a City Councillor oi him; md 1» l*» since felt that I should again take the responsibility of allowing my name to reappear at the head of the notes that 'The Dominion kindly publishes ™ ™ solo responsibility of the sponan undu whose name they are P"'; 1 * that in the City Council Mr. Ca»tie law,*, questions touching the management or cm municipal reserves, I. respect lus ke:li .„, and resume the resnoneibility/^ l f a whilo devolved on lain. H is on fair to all concerned, lwwevcJ', tliat al his stage I publish that tor years I enjoyed, by special privilege ireely gJ anted to me by the City Council, the r.fiUl of free access to the Zoo) aiJWtein K most of that time I was in iUendly and confidential relations with the f> tor of the Zoo; but that, m conseque ce of certain representations made by Him to the council, .and .of a condi .on t en imposed upon ray privilege, I '' es P^ U ''"> relieved myself -of the 1 honour tho-Ca> Council had conferred upon •»«! "™,r: minuted the confidential relations that had existed between, .the curatw and myself. Now whoa Igo*° *o /» r .ay as other citizens do, and the curator ami myself do not trouble ta notice each other. , A Recent Arrival. To mo it is ever gratifying to note Iho arrival of interesting animals in tne /.00. lain consequently glad to report tlia t a, beautiful little gazelle has recently <i ■ rived there. -And this moves mo to 3'--mark that next to that of seem? treasuKS added to the, inmates of the city s i)a)adiso is the pleasure of noticing the delight with which Councillor Frost, the chairman of the ltcserves Committee of our utj Council, heralds their approacli, and ioceiveo congratulations on then arrnai. THe public will never know how lnuoli we owe to Councillor Frost for what lie has done to make our Zoo an institution, of which New Zealand'should be prowl, It is not a secret that ho does not worship m», nor that bo does not pander, to me; but I am glad that tho loader.of the Reserves Committee- is a progressive public-spirited citizen, who, although i£ . has Riven, mo mow motaphoncal kick than most men would have iniucted, D« done icors to impj-ove the Zoo, and t< favour my wishes in doing it, thau ajij raanj except my good .friend, Mr. Oastle 1 hope tliat 3 shall . ever honour Ui' Prosi, altliough.l havo no doubt that al times lie will condeinn, and oppose, ano frown upon me, as in the past ho ha; hitherward meted out his . displeasure However, when I see hundreds, it nol thousands, of healthy, well-dressed, mtel ligent, perfectly-behaved men and wo men (many of tho men dressed in khak and standing with their friends) limn) the terrace fronting the lions' pens n tlie Zoo, as they were in- the aftevnoov of Sunday week; or when I hear eucl expressions of admiration as I have re cently heard from men, women, am children while they liavo been watchin; the squirrels;' or when I notice tin breakdown of vain attempts to desmlx the new splendours of a perfcctly-attirei peacock I cannot help extolling thi merits of Councillor Frost. And non he has added a gazelle to our collectiot of living gems. Seeing, then, that it n admitted tliat the orators and poets o all the ages, in their wildest attempts l< describe woman, tho proudest creato that this world has yet' produced, reach cd their highest stretch of excdlone when it was said "Sho has tho eyes of i gazelle,"-1 heartily congratulate Council lor Frost on his latest achievement,, am adviso"everybody to hurry up to see thi city's! la-test zoological acquisition.

A Genuine Appreciator. On a recent Sunday a.gentleman said to me, "J, with a friend visited your Zoo this afternoon, and we wero so pleased by wliat wo saw I hat, as there was no charge for admission, I placed a. 'halfcrown in one of your boxes." Of course, I felt pleased that the Zoo wa3 to appreciated; and that a contribution had been put into ono of tlio City Corporation's boxes; but I ask my friends to remember that if they would improve the Zoo in accordance with my wishes, they should send all contributions to Mr. John Castle, treasurer of tho Wellington Zoological Society, Riddiford Street', Wellington South, The Bright Side of the Zoo. There is in the Zoo a very fine show of lions—the four cubs are well-formed, well-grown, strong, and full of life, anil of showy fun; tl|o two-year-old lion, is a superb animal, promising to ■ become as handsome as any lion 1 have ever seen or ever y«ad of; Bis two-year-old sifter is worthy of her family; 13riton, the father of tho young lions, is a representative of the shaggy kind, and -should, I think, be exhibited much more than lie has been; Alary,-the maternal grandmother of tho young lions, carries, her age well, and modestly bears tho reputation of one of the inildest mannered, sweetest tempered, noblest lionesses that ever held tho dignity of lionhood above the calumnies of nervous tourists and- hot-house dittyists, and writers of Sunday school hymns, no tuoro like poets than their descriptions aro liko tho majesty of genuine members of the genus i'elis; Maud, the daughter , of Wary, and mother of the cubs is-worthy of fdmiration in all her relationships, but she is not managed according to my ideals; and "King Dick," the pioneer lion-of the Zoo, etill carries tho lion's head that, in' my opinion, has no peer. The kangaroos constitute another ■ exhibit of which Wellington well may boast. The Mandarin ducks are splendid, and the Worth American summer ducks. almost equal them. The thai , are. hardy and apparently happy. Tho macaws, though numerically dwindling, aro gorgeous in healthy plumage. The zebu cattle aro in tho pink of condition. The stag of tha fallow deor is a charming little fellow, and shonrd be seen by every deer-fancier before the elegant - lerdling rids h-mself of his elegant antlers. The parrots are beautiful. Osman, the great dog that led tho dog teams in Scott's historic last expedition, is in better condition than ho was a few months ago, and, although showing signs of age, is an object of perennial interest. Oscar, the great dog tliat deserves immortal honour for tho services he rendered in one of Slmcklelon's Antarctic expeditions, should, with Osman, his heroic neighbour, afford more : than iixpennyworth of the pleasure of romantic imagination to any person tbat has sixpennyworth of intellect behind the convolutions in his cranium. Jacko, the famous monkey that'was under firo at Armentieres, and almost miraculously canio through the Battle of tho Kouiine, looks as fresh as though lie had jvst sallied forth from secret hiding-places in his Abyssinian home. Tho hybrid pheasants aro simply splendid; the young pheasants now coming through a marvellous process in chango of colouring should fascinate every person of aesthetic tastes and a studious turn. In fact, any person that cannot profit more than sixpence by visiting and studying the bright side cf tho Wellington Zoo might sell for sixpence all tho intellect he. , has.vnd profit by the transaction. Some Varieties and Some Questions. Somo people don't like questions. But wherever marriage is honoured tho continuation of the human race and the welfare of the world must depend on submitting a question. And marriage ia not. the only institution that calls tor a. question. Within the scope of my "Nature Notes'' three institutions—tho Wellington Botanical • Garden, the Pothorick Museum, and the Wellington Zoo—all draw out questions. Recently I visited tho suiuariuni in tho Wellington Zoo, and 1 saw in ono of Hio tanks ono fish thai fccmed dead and another gasping and throwing itself us though, "in extremis." On >tho following Sunday Councillor Ciistlp and 1 walked along the frpiit of the aquarium, cind noticed that thero was not a fish in any of tho tanks. Later Councillor Castle, knowing that 1 had several times expressed the opinion that: the aquarium was not worked properly, to regularly, supply Hie amount of oxygen, without which lish cannot healthily livo in an aquarium, and jiay-r ing an opinion of his own on the ofleols of certain chemical;* that ho had at times perceived it tho tanks, gave notico that ho would ask the City Council certain questions to the aqnarium, and the management of it. Soon after, that ho i

(old mo that lie bad seen Councillor Frost, the chairman cf the Beserves Committee of the City Council, who told him that somo of tho fish were dead and had been sent to Ilr. Ayson that he might report on. tho cause of their deaih. While I was reflecting on tho uncertainly of lifo in tho world, of fishes, Tub Dominion newspaper camo with tho following interesting little 'larrativo:—. "Whero are those' fish ?—Councillor ! John Castle and tho Zoo Aquarium. Tho matters concerning the Zoo aquarium contained in the r.otices of motion (published yesterday) given by Councillor Castlo for tho next meeting of the City Council led to an inquiry by a-Dominion Teporter to find , out what had become of the aquarium fish. The curator (Mr. J. Langridge) was consulted as to what was the meaning of Mr. Castlo's motion. 'I don't know,' said the curator. '"Whoro are the fish?' asked tho reporter. •"All up in the Zoo.' "'But not in Mao aquarium tanks? "'No; during the recent heavy rains tho water became- very muddy, and a "ood deal of vegetable matter got through, so I thought it advisable to drain tho tanks off. and. give them a clean out.' " 'And where aro all tho fish ? '"They're all right. They're in a-nice pond lip at tlie Zoo,-but they'll soon bo back in their tanks.' : " 'Did Councillor Castlo consult you before tabling his notice of motion?' "'No; I haven't heard from him at all.' Which is all very mysterious to the uninitiated." I Well between the gasping fish, the Jish reported dead, • Councillor Castle, [Councillor Frost, Mr. Ayson, ■ tho curator, and the Dominion reporter, I confess that lam somewhat mystified myself. However, believing (1) that I was the first to move for the Government to be asked to present the aquarium; (2) that Mr. Castle moveii next; (3) that articles, on supplying of oxygen to fish in 6overal of tho great aquariums in the world has been to me a very interesting and delightful study; (4) that twice .when in the Wellington Zoo aquarium, young I salmon have arrived at a very interesting stage in their development they have suddenly disappeared from tho aquarium. I hope that tho worthy councillor will push his questions and proposals so as to effect a much-noeded improvement in the aquarium Encouragement for a Live Councillor. I While several councillors liavo great notices of motion resting on an orderpaper, liko big guns rusting and becoming obsolete in a forgotten arsenal, tho influeneo of Councillor Castlo' fills with gratitude the Hearts of -Wellington boys over all the .world. I have previously mentioned communications of grateful appreciation from Egypt and Mesopotamia and London. Now I.must note one just received from France. A bravo young officer, who recently had' tho too if his boot cut off by a fragment of a German shell, lends his gallant men to the capture of Messinee. and, having captured the town, sits doivn and thinks of Councillor Castle and his strenuous efforts to improve tho Wellington Zoo. This is what the officers of our Army read and think- about, and how they write, when flushed with victory at the'seat of war:— "Have just been reading again the March number of tho 'Zoo Standard/ and please accept my congratulation on tho production. I'm sure it reflects great credit upon the editor, and I hope it does much to further popularise tho Zoo, if that is possible. I'm afraid we'll hardly know the place with all ita improvements when wo get to good old N.Z. again. My congratulations also to the secretary (Councillor Castle), on whom T know a lot of the work must fall. This card I got well east of Mcssines, after wo had captured the town and wero hanging on." The councillor that lives in the hearts of our university young men while they fivhf at the front, and expect'him to keep the Zoo growing and improving until they come home, mny well lauqh at carninj; criticism, and extend a little nity to jcsilous city councillors when their checks become slightly (inged with characteristic greon.