THE ZOO

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2907, 20 October 1916, Page 6

THE ZOO

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES

THE FLY'S HABITS. (By John. Castle, Secretary _of the Wellington Zoological Society.) 'The grounds of the Wellington Zoo are steadily becoming more and move worthy to he styled a zoological garden. Tho beautifying effort of the Wellington Rose and Carnation Society is producing a great improvement, and is yielding promises of glorious results. Ornamental beds have been laid out, and a rustic pergola has been erected. Last year some beautiful roses were grown in tho plot that lia'd been planted by the society. ■ This year the show of roses, on a much extended scale, should be delightful. I, as ail amateur, however, venture to express the hope that the society's efforts may, m future, be restricted to roses and carnations. The growing of rhododendrons seems to be outside the limits of the socioty's successes. There are a few beautiful clumps of flowers von tins rhododendrons planted last year on.tue slope above the roses in the plot atorementioned, but they unfortunately render more conspicuous what to 1110 seem to be deplorable blanks. An eminent writer once said: "So far as I hayo seen, all rhododendrons appear to like the samo treatment—cool, peaty, or loamy soil in which the plant can shade it sown roots." The above slope does not seom to mo to afford tho opportunity to shade.

Another Creat Improvement. The ostriches in the Zoo now have a fine enclosure in which to exercise themselves, maintain their health, evince their soveral idiosyncracies, and grow their feathers. That some of them will knock their brains out, and others break their peculiar legs, may perhaps be forecasted by logicians reasoning by analqgy; for but comparatively few ostriches, in any part of the world, have died of "old age; but the new accommodation provided for tho great two-toed, anomalies must he appreciated by all tho patrons of the Zoo, and must- raiso 'Councillor Frost and his economical, ■enterprising committee of coiumonsenso hither on the scalo of public admiration that they havo long been ascending.

The Zoo Census.The intimation that the Government is taking the census of the people of Now Zealand has excited my imagination to compute tho number of animals in the Wellington Zoo. Of courso I know that the City Year Book tells us that they are "more than six hundred." It would gladden my heart if the Government would for tho improvement of tlio Zoo, at tho Tate of a thousand pounds per head for cacli animal over sixteen hundred.

Ths Reacook's Tail. When Solomon, tho great Hebrew King, fiot to know what a peacock was ho felt""that some of the niost beautiful specimens of the :pecies must at any cost be procured for-his gardens. When Pliny, tho great Reman wl ' l l^j r > ■ had seen tho peacdck, ho said: The peacock far surnasseth all the rest of fowls. When, on tho banks of tiio Indus, Alexander the Great first beheld the iridescent beauty of the peacock, the great soldier Emperor was so charmed by its brilliant gleams, that ho forbado any person to kill the beautiful bird, on pain of very heavy penalties. It is not surprising, to learn, then, that when Councillor Frost, the chairman oS tho Reserves Committee of tho Wellington City Council, visited Auckland recently, and there saw some very beautiful peacocks, lie having read my "Zoo Notes in Tim-Dominion-, set his heart on ■ obtaining ono tlio superb birds for Wellington. i\ow tho magnificent creature has settled in tlie Zoo! and, having concluded, as every other scnsiblo animal that is thoio ha», that ho has been fortunate in being blessed with such an excellent home to luxuriate in, lie has set himself to display his variegated attractions to tho attention of crowds of ohservers, vlio arc just as emphatic iu their expressions of praise as, in ages louts since, wondering visitors "\\cic when they having flocked. from surrounding cities, saw tho gorgeous birds on exhibition for the-first time in Athens. But tho girls and boys wlio road my notes must not go snout exclaiming: "What a beautiful tail that peacock has!" The tail, of a peacock is not very beautiful. It is the support of the beautiful train, or trail, of tlie superb bird. Wh»n the peacocks 111 tlio Zoo display their glories, as they do very often just now, notice that the beautiful ocellated plumes stand up from tlie Lack, and from the tail. Some journalists will write about beautiful feathers in the tails of ostriches, and in tho tails of peacocks, but the numerous readers of my notes must please remember that I am responsible only for the notes/that appear under 1 my name, and that ; one of the purposes for which, my notes are written is to popularise science to correct popular 1 errors. -

Does a Fly Wipe His Feet? I have always tried to impress upon tho readers of my notes the great importance of accurate observation. My advice, especially to tho wide-awake girls and boys who honour me with their attention, is to persuade them to observe much more accurately and to speculate much less wildly than their fathers and mothers havo been wont to. Now, to illustrate the need that there has been for such advice, I direct attention to two quotations, from articles written by writers who are not children, and who', presumably, should be regarded as of more than ordinary scientific attainments. One is from a Wellington newspaper giving what purports to ho a Quotation- from a memorandum received by the Public Health Committco of tho City Council from tho District Health Officer (Dr. Sydney Smith). This quotation is "Tho co-operation of local authorities is earnestly desired in an effort to comIfat the fly pest in this district. Flies are amongst the most dangerous insects known to man. They are callable of carrying germs of various diseases on their legs and in their intestines, and in disseminating sneh germs over articles of food and drink. Their habits are filthy, thev breed and live in filth, mid carry filth about with them on their le>'.s and bodies,'and deposit it on food. Volumes could he written about their filthy habits." So much for that. Now notico what a writer, writing in "Chambers's Journal," one of the most sane and sober journals the world has yet seen, less than four years- a», said:"A friend of the writer, who has had _ occasion to handle the fiv extiifiycly in the interests of a certain branch of science, has concluded from his invostijrntioiiri, that, it is not such a serious offender as itis generally supposed tn be. The fly in its habits is ocecdinflv clean." And notice the following: "The fiv. has two claws and six feet, each of wlnch_ is ?;iinpliod with sticky linds: but it is imnerat've for the fiv to keep these clean, as otherwise it cannot secure p. grn>. Now, I do not set myself as a judco between tho authorities that- I havo quoted. I use the quotations to show how even men of considerable standing differ on what they have observed.