ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 35, 5 November 1920, Page 7

ZOO NOTES

(By John Crewos, ex-President of tho Wellington Zoological Society.) It is probable that the juvenile readers 'of .The Dominion, who presented a beautiful gold-banded fountain pen to me, that I might write more notes for their edification, think that I have not duly honoured their gift. I must, however, remind them that during tho war, in which New Zealand was engaged, but f»w. animals could bo added to the Zoo, and that, latelj',, newspaper proprietors havo been very anxious about supplies of paper.

A Wonderful Acquisition! To all that like to study the greatest wonders of Nature, tho echidna, which some peoplo call the Australian porcupine, should be of fascinating interest. It ia a uniquo conglomeration, of living anomalies. It is a Zoo in itself. It is an oviparous animal, that is, an animal that lays eggs; but it is a mammal, or an animal that suckles its young. It has a pouch, but the use it makes of it is different from that which the viviparous kangaroo makes of its pouch. It lays eggs as the platypus does, but its ruothod of producing its young is very different from that of the platypus.' To describe its striking peculiarities -would bo to rulo out my note on the ground of length. The echidna is a real wonder of wonders. Tho Frofjmouth, • Among the remarkable exhibits that have recently been placed in the Zoo is a frogmouth, a representative of the genera "Podargus, Batrachostomus." It is not a very beautiful bird; in fact, somo writers tell us that in the Podareus group tho ugliest of birds may bo found. The utility of the group, however, is great, and tho peculiarity of the bird merits attention.

Wallabies—A Good Show. Representatives of several spceies of tho wallaby genus have recently been milled in tlie Zoo, making' lite finest show of wallabies ever exhibited there.

Kiwis. . I am. glad that the kiwi is again represented in the Zoo. The Government of the Dominion ought to keep a good supply of the several 6pecies r of ,this miiquo bird in our ijopular Zoological Park. Lately, we were told that there was not a living kiwi left in the Jxindon Zoo, but our Zoo with kiwis should lead the world. Our Zoo is not large, but it has rerecently shown what but very few Zoos hnvo ever shown alivo at one echidna, a inargay, a kiwi, a bower-bird, and a frogmouth.