Daily Republican., 1880-05-22
ZO0lOgfcai.

Geological.
! Tuesday the long expected and Ion
wished for Rocky Mountain sheep q
rived at the Geological Garden in Phi
adelphia. This animal Ia one whis
the officers Of the Society have for year
been endesvoring to secure, and NO,
that they have been successful the
naturally feel very much elatsd owe
the acquisition. This specimen is
young female about year old, AMI
was purchased from man In Colorad,
recently, and after its arrival in th,
Garden Tuesday was given spscioui
quarters in the deer park. Mr.. Arthur
Il. Brown, the Superintendent of tht
Garden, says that the Rocky Mountain
sheep is one Of the rares! Of specimens
in any collection, and that this one II
the first he has ever seen. There ID
no other one on exhibition on the At
lantic side Of the continent, and the
only specimens on exhibition in the
West are Q pair now In California.
: The scarcity Of these animals in ZOO
logical collections Is owing to the great
difficulty experienced in their capture.
Like the chamois, they live on the very
tops of the mountains, and always stay
in the places most inaccessible to man.
The only way in which they are
brought down is by means Of a rifle,
and it always has happened that they
have been too seriously wounded to
keep them alive. Mr.. Brown said that,
sever since the Garden was started
about half the United States army (not
necessarily large number of men)
have been trying TO secure us a Rocky
Mountain sheep" The present animal
was caught soon after it was born, and
the mother was shot. It's now year
old and seems to be in excellent condi.
tion. 1t Is now about the size of good.
sized sheep, but will grow to be much
larger. The males, when full grown,
are quite large and wonderfully active,
and are provided with great recurved
1orns, Of prodigious size and strength.
Another recent arrival at the Garden
s that Of four bowling monkeys from
Nicaragua. These animals have the
'eputation of being able to make more
noise in proportion to their size than
my other animal yet discovered, ex-
'ept perhaps the tree frog. In their
lsttve woods, just before eunrise, these
,owlers commence, ard their dismal
fowls, 1t Is said, can be heard for miles
'round. They are enabled to make this
errifo noise by reason Of o special de-
'elopment Of the vocal organs. They
re small animals, and are generally |
ound in South America. The ones at /!
he Garden are known as the "Mantled |
iowlers," because of o line of gray
air around the back and sides, and |
re the most northern of several species.
hey are the first whiUh have ever been
a the Garden, as they are scarce and
ard to capture. Besides that, they are
cry delicate, as was shown by the fact
1at the four which arrived here are all
,at was left Of fourteen which were
INT from Nicaragua.
To capture those fourteen little mon
eys 1t took about eighteen men for
'vsral hours, and necessitated the
ltting down Of about four acres of
eos. A tribe or lot Of the animals
ere observed in tho forest, and the
ethod by which they were secured
as briefly as follows: The men first
rroundod the tribe, so as to drive
EN- as closely together as possible.
len an outside ring Of trees were cut
WE, the fall Of which drove the mon
ys still closer to the centre. More
ses were felled, until but a single
imp Of two or three trees were left
snding, and the monkeys were shell.
'ed in their branches. Then one af-
: another OF these trees was cut down
that all the tribe had to take refuge
one tree. The capture of q numbsr
them was then comparatively easy
'tter. The four little strangers were
Iced in enc Of the cages in the mon
house. With them arrived
lack handed spider-monkey," speci-
ms Of which have been In the collec.
q befoss. The name indicates Just
'ut what they look like. They have
OK hands and long arms and legs,
ich make them resemble a spider
y much.
he collection of sea lions has been
iched by the addition of two sea-
IS, one an adult female and the 9TH A
smale cub. They were well received h
the heretofore solitary occupant. IN
" were brought from the Island of +
Miguel of the coast of lower Cali
lia, where they are found in large
nbers. Both are apparently healthy
much is hoped for from the addi-
I.-"Phila. Bulletin"