SPRING AT THE ZOO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 11

SPRING AT THE ZOO.

NESTING OF THE BIRDS. CLOSE GUARD. ON EMU'S EGGS. The feathered population of the Auckland Zoo is already making its preparations for the spring, and nests in embryo are thickly woven among the foliage of the-aviary. The hundreds of birds of all descriptions have been busily gathering stray feathers, mosses and twigs lying about their houses, "To them "stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." In spite of the inquisitive gaze of visitors, the birds keep up their building activities with ceaseless ardour. The Australian finches were the first to commence, arid if the instinct of the birds in starting their nesting much sooner than usuat can be.depended upon, an early spring may be looked for. In a cosy thatched hut, eight emu eggs are being carefully guarded night and day, and in a few weeks the authorities are hoping to witness a successful hatching The eggs take two months to hatch, the female bird sitting during the day and the male at night. Several ostrich eg|!;s have also been kid, although as yet none of the birds has shown any signs of brooding. . . ./ Although visitors in the afternoons do not see much of the large sea-elephanfc which was recently caught at Otahuhu, the animal has apparently settled down well to its new life. It, spends most of the afternoon lying in the water. It is very healthv and judging by its daily consumption of 101b. of fish, has lost none of its appetite. /. A never-failing source of interest is the cage of the orang-outangs. The baby, which was born in the London Zoo arid was recently brought to Auckland, has grown almost out of recognition. However, it is still much smaller than its companion, but when full-grown will be the size of a man.