NATURE NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 34, 3 November 1917, Page 8

NATURE NOTES

AND VARIOUS OBSERVATIONS

(By John Crowes.) The citizens of Wellington should immediately take their visitors up to sea our Zoo.

"But," says some person, "iny viators aro from J\ew York, w'liei'e tliero is a magnificent Zoo." "Aye," says another person, "snd my visitors are from Sydney, where ihero is a new Zoo, that at a. great cost has recently been established on Hie latest and best principles." "Yes," says another distinguished citizen, "and my visitors are ftom J/ondon, the capital of tho world, the city in whose Zoo are the Mappin terraces, praised wherever the English language is spoken; surely you would not invito such visitors to see the tiny little Wellington Zoo!" Oh, yes, I would; I know a great deal about other Zoos, but this does not bring a blush to my cheeks when I load visitors to see the Zoo that we have in .Newtown Park. When a Londoner visits our Zoo, <md I seo him swelling pompously and reddening his cheeks, 1 say. "How many tooth-billed pigeons are there in tho London Zoo?

"What?" he erclaims. "Tooth-billed pigeons," I repeat. "Never heard of such a thing," he says. . "Did you ever see a Margay cat? X ask,

"No," ho says. I have never met in the Wellington Zoological Garden a Londoner that has seen a tooth-billed pigeon or a Margay cat. If you. would take Londoners to see what they have never seen, take thorn to our Zoo and direct their attention to the tooth-billed pigeon. That wonderful bird was captured at Samoa, and lias been some years in his present residence. In the course of nature he must die soon. Then I would not give much for the chance of any person in Wellington, or in London, seeing a live tooth-billed pigeon. The man or woman that would not pay sixpence to see a live tooth-billed pigeon lacks the keenness of educational desire that should delight every intelligent person. But, in addition to the Margay cat and the tooth-billed pigeon, there are m the Wellington Zoo several animal? of unique interest. There is "Jacko," the Abyssinian monkey. Is thore in New York, or in London, or in Sydney, a monkey that was under fire at Armentieres and passed with our troops through the battle known as the inferno of the Sommer' Aye, and there is "Bruan," the heroic dog that tho shadow of death touched the heart of more than once, in Captain Scott's last tragic Antarctic expedition. There is also "Oscar," a worthy, rival, and perhaps the only worthy rival ot "Osman" that lives in the world ot dogs to-day. Men whose minds are meditative, women whose hearts delight in elegance, and girls and boys who would make geography, grammar, and natural history as delicious to their intellects as ripe peaches are to thirsty appetites, should take all their friends up to see our Zoo, which although it is not big is gTandly great. Remember that this, not Christmas time, is the time to see the Zoo-now, when the Mandarin drakes are arrayed in all their glory, the peacock is in prime plumage, and the plieasants baffle description. The Mandarin drakes, now superb, will soon be as drab as ducks.

Rhododendron Ridge. New Zealand marble, with its rich hues and sombre splendours, has been brought to be exhibited in Wellington, just when called for by Councillor Castle with hi? Rhododendron Ridge project. Now, let the Wellington Rose and Carnation Society, Councillor Castle, and every other New Zealander that is worthy of the Dominion, see the exhibition of marolo that is amazing a favoured few; read the hints at the glory of Rhododendron Ridge that are published in the /100 Standard"; rise to the occasion, and worthily honour the memory of a magnificent tragedy that we want a bhafceBpeare or a Phidias to immortalise.

The Rosery. The Wellington Rose and Carnation Society is an institution that should gather into its membership a thousand more of the citizens of Wellington, ana the enlarged society should give a sufficient impetus to the growing of rhododendrons, azaleas, and roses, to adorn the city with thousands of small gardens aglow with variegated forms of hying beauty. A striking object-lesson, hinting at the possibilities of beautifioation that are in the city of Wellington, is growing in the city's Zoological Garden. Citizens should go up to the garden, study the growth and development of the rosery, fisS ffie genial members of the Rose and Carnation Sooiety for information about the Science and art of producing the best roses that can be produced in available positions and soils; and then apply genius 'to nature, and fill garden plots with living, breathing forms that shou d kindle flames of pootry in the supremely gifted children of gomue, and cause even common people to feel that they are not magnified monkeys. There.is a glorious day dawning for the Wellington rosery. Now is the time to watch the marvellous Towtfi of its greenery,-and the unfolding splendours of its petals Aye, and in some of tho streets of Wellington there are indications of possibilities that should stimulate the majority of the citizens of Wellington to respect themselves, and to allow their self-respect to reflect itself in their gardens. In Owen Street there is a small front garden, only a few feet in area, but annually yielding a show of roses good enough to be admired in any city in the world; in the grounds adjoining the Public Hospital at Newtown flowers rich in striking colours attract attention: just inside the gate ot Newtown ' Park Mr. Brewer ha during the last year,demonstrated the wealth of beauty that a small plot of select antirrhinums can be cultivated to develop; at Brooklyn there was a glorious profusion ofroses in one garden last season; at Berhampore. « few weeks ago Nature wove a gorgeous obe of flor/hues that would have paled the far-famed pageantry of ancient Solomon to coarseness; aye, Botanical Garden at Thornton Mr. GU* has handsomely won the city s patitado by the beautiful wnonsness, the i ch profuseness, the aesthetic grouping, ho Striking colour effects of hue and U t and shade, the. delicious refreshfulne. and the charming exhilarateenass *"tt which ho has filled our.botanical paudise Now all these indications, by beauty point to natural reoeauty j » i« I)a j n ful earnestness, aTippeaS orsclentificdevelopme.it by on? Rose and Carnation Society grea.It magnified, and by several other ho - Krai organisations that are much needed.

Unbeautiful Bedsteads and Insalubrious Odours. Some vears ago a successful carnival crowned « effort of the cit zens of Welw«r unusually united. Then 1 SLPion of «>e l-fit of the c.rmVal to be used in the groui ds of the Zoo But it was diverted to inaugurate i Lr mrk to bo known as "Central Pnrk" Well, a few days ago I wen a goodlyjanety tl fountain ouring the P u » V.P" . w,th so mucli yards to a point fiom ■ *m™ fc t avalanche f and broken superannuated m '". tlt . s ,^j r _ other tuoiro'n bedsteads and r bishy accumulation that oe j( , by suggestion, <*f * d . f * Sj" 1 regions, I ip natiicatly chlldl f". v,, I '., t h em w ifh

and ether objectionable elements exposed to oir artistic eyes and scientific olfac tor/ nerves; let the burial be decent*

Handsome Young Gsorge, A few years ago I condoled with Councillor George Frost on the death of a. young lion which tho citizens of Wellington had, by publio vote, named after that powerful patron of tho Zoo. Later, as no vote had been called for by the City Council, 1 nominated another young lion George, and, «s there was no opposition or contest, I declared him duly named. Now, I congratulate Councillor Frost on having, as the worthy lwarer of his honoured name, the lion that I believe to be handsomest young lion in tho world. Young George has inherited beauty in majesty from tho head of his grandfather, "King Dick," and combined with the beauty is a kind of virile, grandeur and shaggy picturesauencss, inherited from "Briton," young George's father. Should any reader of this paragraph, in the course of his travels see a, young lion equal in grandeur to our George 11, kindly tell me where.

A Note of Congratulation, I heartily congratulate all concerned on the appointment of Lieut-Colonel A. K. Young to be an honorary veterinary surgeon to the Zoo. Such an officer was much needed, and I hope that now that the City Council has the advantage of tho advice of such a gentleman there will be, in the correspondence of the Reserves Committee of the council with Councillor Castle and myself, a. renewal of tho courtesy which for years, until recently, uniformly characterised our correspondence,