WELLINGTON ZOO

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2377, 5 February 1915, Page 6

WELLINGTON ZOO

HALCYON DAYS ANIMALS AND PLANTS THE AQUARIUM. [By John Crewes, member of the Council of the Wellington Zoological Society.] Recently four kingfishers have been placed in the Zoo. Two of them are Laughing Kingfishers, better known as "Laughing Jackasses".; the other two are young, but 1 think that they are Sacred Kinglishors. Some naturalists have held that the Halcyon that figured so prominently in the attention, tho natural history, and the poetry of the ancient Greeks was a kingfisher. It was imagined that tho Halcyon built her nest on or near the sea, and that in the seven days that immediately preceded the winter solstice, and tho seven that immediately followed, tho Halcyon sat on her nest and hatched her young. As the fourteen days wero said to be perfectly calm, the Halcyon represented peace, rest, quiet, calm I cannot stay to remark on the beautiful myths that have been published about the Halcyon, but teachers lliat like to brighten with romantic mythology the more sober revelations of scienco may find in the history of the kingfisher much to aid them. Our Zoo, having in it Bernicle geese, a Samoan toothed pigeon, and the two species of kingfishers that I have mentioned -inbraces some very romantic associations.

An Interesting Cat. There was a rime when all over tho world, except in New Zealand and Australia, there wero cats. Lions, tigers, leopards, lynxes, and several other Bpecies of animals, known by other lames, with the wild cats and the domestic cats of which most people know much that is true, much that is imaginary, and much that is fictitious—all are cats. But until comparatively very recent times there was not in New Zealand anything that could be called a cat. In recent time, however, common domestic cats, and even beautiful Persian cats, have become so common within the Dominion that lately a lady was surprised' when she saw a little cat caged in our Zoo. "Why, they have a cat here," she crbd. "but it is a fine one." Another gentleman saw the cat and came and told me that he did not think that it was a fine one. _ Another observer noticed tho little feline curio, and came and asked me what sort of a cat the little new arrival was. In fact, there has recently been placed in our Zoo a littlet oat that has excited muoh curiosity. It is not larger than an' ordinary domestic cat, and the texture of. its hair is rather coarse. "Why, it's a cat," says one lady. "No," 6a.vs another, "see, it has spots like n leopard." "Aye," says a gentleman, "and the spots form rings liko a leopard's." "Yes," says a lady, "it must be a young leopard." Ono gentleman tells me that it is a member of the Geoffrey's species of American, cat. It seems to mo to more nearly answer the description said to have been given by Hensel of an American cat classified as "Felis Guttula." At any rate, it has attracted much alteution, and is worthy of it. a

Momentous Musings. Some of my Zoo Notes are not very iveighty. They are written in my hours of rest and recreation. But they are read by serious men, who tell me that they learn much •from them. Seeing, then, that the Zoo is not a mere pleasure garden or recreation reserve, but is, or should be, a very important educational institution, and that my notes are read" and studied by earnest thinkers, I. offer no apology for inserting liero a paragraph which I was moved to write by serious musings in a cemetery. ' It will be noticed that I coiltend that modern aquariums yield momentous hints that should be studied by town-planners, city councils, municipal and national foresters, managers of cemeteries, public health bodies, friends responsible for the keeping of graves, t-nd, porliaps I might add, every person else. A Zoo is a microcosm, and I work to make the Wellington Zoo, though it is small, such a collection that while it shall afford amusement and refreshment to and great interest to mere sight-seers, it shall be worthy of the notice of tho greatest, the keenest, and tho most subtle intellects, and shall illuminate .some of the greatest problems that can engage human attention. To proceed, then with my practical note to thinkers: When we look into the Wellington aquarium we see light and plants and water and fish. Now we know that "fish must have oxygen or they cannot live. Tho plants in our aquarium, although there are not as many as I would like to see, remind us that what made large aquariums in inland towns practicable and popular was the discovery that plants in water, under tiie influence of light, give off oxygen; -It was known that animal bodies give oft carbonic acid gas. and that plants teed on this: then, when it had been discovered that plants in water give off 'oxygen, which is necessary to maintain the S life of animals, men experimented until they perceived that by having fish or other aquatic ailimals in exact proportion to suitable plants m an aquarium tank such ail exact supply of carbonic acid gas should be given by the animals to the plants, and such_ an exact supply of oxygen should be given by the plants to the ammals that no change of water _ IFI the tanks should ever be necessary Now what goes on between animals and plants in an aquarium tank goes on between animals and plants all over the world. Our bodies give ofE carbonic acid gas, while we live and after we die; the winds carry it into the trees, the leaves imbibe it, and in turn give off oxygen Where there is-pr.oper reciprocation and balance between animal bodies and vegetation the conditions are healthy, it seemed to me then that graves covered with beautiful grass and plants and flowers and surrounded or interspersed with trees may tend to increase tho ™nDlv of oxygen, and thus be means of to k district; but that graves covered with pebbles, however beautiful especially in treeless cemeteries, or in treesless parts of cemeteries, may ba a menace to the public health. As a result of my holiday musings between the equarium and the cemetery, I offer a feiv practical hints then: (1) A Zoo may supply means of health and vigour, provided the Zoo grounds be kept propoitionately stocked with . leafy trees through which winds Mil blow freely. m Mv friends at tho Hutt should make their cemetery at Taita worthy, of their beautiful valley, foi| by so .doing they would not only beautify their cemetery, but woulid make of it a means of blessinnr rather than a source of danger, as, wlten I saw it, it seemed to me to be. C 3) The covering of graves with pebbles or sand instead of vegetation at Karon should be discontinued. I wanted to nffer a thought about cremation in this connection, but must hold, my hand. Snfiioo it to say the aquarium has destroyed my faith in cremation. I must concluded this rather lengthy paragraph l,v saving that there is not a perfect balance between the fish and the plants in our aquarium, and that therefore two additional sets of methods and means of oxygenation arc employed, of which mire anon. The Government has , by Publishing the aquarium, opened a wonderful school to students that havo eyes and intellects.

Delightful Exclamations. | "I do like to hnur Ui<j exclamations of victors when thav are aoiua through

tho Zoo the first time," said my good friend Mr. Castle, tho well-known secretary of the Wellington Zoological Society. At that I do not wondor; in fact, I very cordially sympathise with him in such enjoyment. The exclamations generally are so natural, bo genuine, so spontaneous, and they reveal so much of their authors, as well as of their subjects, that they aro delightfully interesting. Then they are so free, so loud, and so public, that I need not olfor any apology for using some of them occasionally to brighten up my artless notes. Aesthetic Shades. "And these are beautiful," said a laa.v, as, having just turned from the golden carp in the aquarium she noticed the perch in an adjoining lank. Just then a gentleman caught my eye and said, "Well, you are getting together a lot of beautiful things in this Zoo." Of course when he used the word "you" it implied all who are co-operating to make the Zoo attractive to all classes of people. Yes, the perch, in sober groy and. black, are beautiful; and, if we may believe what is said about them, their quiet beauty is a protectivo power. The perch when frightened, we are told, turns pale, so that the very enemy that frightens indirectly ludes tho little fish from its pursuer, and the beautiful black stripes so fit the shadows of the reeds on the banks of the streams in which the fish luxuriate as to wonderfully hide the little finny beauties from their natural enemies.

Very Complimentary. "Oh! why here .are fish," exclaimed a My. "Yes," said he friond, who was going through tho Zoo with her. "Oh, isn't this beautiful? Look, why round the corner hero there is a long row of tanks in rustic ro< keries. Why, it reminds me of something we saw at —let me see, where was it? Oh, yes, it was at ." And hero, when my curiositiy was very highly excited, I heard her mention the name of a European city that has, or had, a Zoo almost as largo as tho Regent Park Zoo ill London, and had a costly aquarium. Surely the Government of New Zealand, the Wellington City Council, and all the other promoters of the Wellington Zoo ought to be pleased to know that our young aquarium is praised by observant ladies who before they praised it had seen a great European aquarium of which ours is worthy to remind them.

An Important Addition. The completion of a large enclosure adjoining the peacock's run has provided a show ground that should soon become one of the most attractive features of the Zoo. It renders practicable the utilisation of water that would otherwise be wasted from the aquarium, and, ornamented with rockeries and plants and rustic shelters, it should soon be a happv home adorned with numerous beautiful aquatic animals and waders. Forecasts, I confidently expect to see in the near future a young red kangroo, some young peacocks, and suitable arrangements for the 'proper exhibition of tuatara, kiwis, and flying opossums, ot squirrels. Steady improvement is the order of the day in the Wellington Zoo--logical Ga'rden.