cubs, and a smooth-coated brown bear, the identity of which remains to be proven by its growth.

Mr. Ferdinand Kaegebehn succeeded in securing for the Society a pair of silvery gray Ursus arctos cubs, direct from Trebizond, which by reason of their beauty and good temper are very desirable.

Mr. Carl Hagenbeck presented to the Society a fine pair of young hairy-eared bears, from northwestern Mongolia (near the geographical center of Asia), which are of much value. A ten-months-old pair of Ursus arctos from Central Russia, obtained from Mr. Hagenbeck in exchange, are as much like "silver-tip" grizzlies of that age as one species can possibly resemble another. From Mr. Hagenbeck was purchased a pair of sloth bears from India, and from Captain Golding came 1 Himalayan black bear, 2 Japanese bears, and 2 Malayan sun bears.

It has been our policy to secure young bears and rear them in our own dens, taking great care to avoid the development of bad temper, and also to secure the finest possible growth. In the preservation of ursine temper, much has been gained by strictly prohibiting the feeding of bears by visitors. At present about one-half of our 30 bears are immature, but all save the polars are so good-natured that the keepers enter their dens and drive them to and fro like so many sheep. What is of equal importance, bears that are reared together play with each other instead of fighting.

The following list of the species and varieties of bears now represented in the Park collection may be of interest:

66

2

66

66

Central Russia...

2 Brown Bears, from Asiatic Turkey........... Ursus arctos. Ursus arctos.

2 Hairy-Eared Bears, from N.-W. Mongolia.... Ursus piscator.

Prong-Horned Antelope Herd. Although it is risky to make at this time any statement regarding our herd of prong-horned antelope, nevertheless our success with it during the past year gives us reason to hope that this species can survive here without being attacked by gastro-enteritis.

A year ago last summer we started a new herd of antelope, with ten specimens, about one-half of them adult. Owing to the loss of all those previously allowed to graze on green grass in the range, we decided to try the experiment of keeping a herd in a corral containing no grass, feeding it chiefly on dry food, and carefully regulating the supply of green grass.

This policy was carried out, and the result has been very gratifying. There has been no occurrence of gastro-enteritis. Three deaths have occurred in the herd, two being due to accidents, and one to fighting. The remaining seven animals of the original herd are in as fine physical condition as if they had all this time been living in their home country. They are fat, in fine pelage, lively, and so vigorously playful that their attentions to their keepers are a positive annoyance.

Our experiments with moose, mule deer, and Columbian black-tailed deer have not been as successful as we had hoped, on account of all three of these specimens having been persistently subject to gastro-enteritis, a disease which in them seems incurable. Pending further studies into the causes and prevention of that malady, we will not now renew our stock of moose; but we expect to do so at a later period.

The Beaver Colony. After unexpected delays and postponements, the Beaver Pond finally received a stock of animals, and to-day it is one of the most interesting of the minor attractions of the Park. Several specimens came from Brownsville, Tex., and one from Colorado. Mr. Hugh J. Chisholm presented a very handsome pair which came from Canada, and later in the year, three more from Maine. A very characteristic dam, about forty feet long, with an up-stream curve, has been built by the beavers at the lower end of the pond, of poles and sticks which they have cut and peeled, small stones, and mud gathered from the bottom of the pond. In the center of the pond, the animals have built a very comfortable house, about four feet high, of mud and sticks. In cutting the saplings and trees left for them in the enclosure, the beavers began with the smallest, and have now cut everything under six inches in diameter. The larger trees are now being attacked, and are going one by one.

During his autumn vacation Mr. E. R. Sanborn, the Park photographer, discovered in a tooth-pick factory an unlimited supply of green birch-bark, such as beavers love to feed upon, and immediately shipped to the Park a quantity for trial. The beavers have manifested a great fondness for it, and it is now supplied to them regularly in small piles placed on the banks of the pond. Even in the middle of the day they are seen to leave the water, gravely march up to the piles of birch-bark, fill their mouths with the largest pieces available, and solemnly stride back to the water to consume them.

Gifts. The most noteworthy gifts of Mammals during the year were the following:

1 Pair Mouflon, from Maurice Egerton, London.

I Pair Siberian Brown Bears, from Carl Hagenbeck.

5 Beaver, from Hugh J. Chisholm.

1 Elk, from Knox Taylor, Ketchum, Idaho.

1 Black Bear, from Señor Cruz E. Gonzalez, Chihuahua, Mex. 2 Cacomistles, from Charles Sheldon, Chihuahua, Mex.

I Western Yellow-Haired Porcupine, from W. T. Hornaday.

I Florida Deer, from Mrs. Arthur Duane, Sharon, Conn.

I Virginia Deer, from Frederick D. Camp, New York City.

At Merrymeeting Park, Brunswick, Me., were purchased 3 buffaloes, 2 adult woodland caribou, I antelope, 3 elk, 3 whitetailed deer, I black bear, 3 gray wolves, 2 foxes, 3 raccoons, and 3 porcupines, all of which were in fine condition, and were added to the groups of those species already on hand.

A number of rare and valuable ungulates were acquired during the year, the following being by purchase: 7 Newfoundland caribou fawns, through the kind offices of Robert L. Mare, Esq., of St. Johns, Newfoundland; I anoa, I sika deer, 2 sambar deer, I equine deer, I Chinese water deer, 2 aoudad, I Himalayan tahr, and 6 prong-horned antelope. A fine female equine deer was received in exchange from the Philadelphia Zoological Society, and a llama is expected shortly from the Washington Zoological Park.

During the summer Mr. Raymond L. Ditmars was appointed assistant to the director in the mammal department, and this arrangement has proven to be admirably adapted to the needs

of the Park. Mr. Ditmars has rapidly acquired knowledge of the details of his new line of duties, which are merely supplementary to his work as assistant curator, in charge of reptiles, and there is thus opened to him a wider field of usefulness to the Society.

Excepting the two epidemic diseases, gastro-enteritis and septic ulcerative dysentery, the mammals of the Park have been satisfactorily free from serious diseases during the year. All the bears, wolves, foxes, otters, cats, rodents, antelope, elk, buffalo, tropical ungulates of all kinds, European deer, baboons, monkeys, and lemurs are, with but few and trifling exceptions, in prime condition. The following is a statement of the species and specimens on hand December 21, 1901 :

DEPARTMENT OF BIRDS.-C. William Beebe, Assistant Curator, in

Charge.

The most important addition to the bird department during the past year was the erection of the temporary Pheasants' Aviary, presented by the heirs of Samuel B. Schieffelin. The structure consists of a long, narrow building, with spacious runways in front, each wire enclosure measuring six by twentyeight feet. Forty-five specimens of pheasants now occupy these new quarters; also flocks of jungle fowl and California quail.