Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-24
w. Z. D. STOKES HOAxES
FAMEl. NATURALISTS
SAYS ODD LOOKING BIRDS ARE
NOT "sNoWy GEESE
confers Hybrds on Central Park and
Fincs Them Hailed as Rarities.
Came from Poultry
Yard

| NEW YORK, Dec. 23.-Three strange
geese have taken up their habitation in
the swan pond near The Seventy-seventh
street entrance of Central park, and have
interested greatly the wise naturalists OF
this city. Snow geese" is the parks
Official name for them. In Webster's
Dictionary snow geese are Chen hyper
borea. They are plentiful in the frozen
north and occasionally migrate to the
United States. Few nave been captured,
as they are wary of traps.
The Central park triplets are serene
birds with clipped WINGS Evidently they
view their new habitat with good deal
of contentment. They have received their
official classification and the visits Of
Professor Miller of the American Museum
of Natural History with high-bred non
chalance, and even seem to realize their
own Importance. They do not affiliate
with the common teals or white swans
or even the stately black swans with
their beautiful crimson bills. The geese
are squat, unlovely creatures in reality
with wings tipped with black. Never
theless in natural history beauty is only
skin deep and scarcity is greater vir-
tue Donald Byrne, the bird specialist
of Central park, points with pride to his
snow geese"
enigmatically, and then expatiates on
their rarity.
On Wednesday Professor Miller, who
assists Professor Allen in the ornitho-
logical department. of the Museum a.
Natur.ay History, visited the three geese.
in company with a reporter. Professor
Miller said
arctics. Sometimes hey migrate as far
south as the Carolinas. They are unusual
in captivity, and have no idea how they
come to be in Central park
"They are not as rare as the Labrador
duck and the great aux. but they are nice
additions to the Central park collection.
l doubt If they will mate in captivity"
While the geese are engaging the seri-
Gus attention of scientists of varying de-
grees of position. w. e. D.. Stokes, owner
of the Ansonia is interested in the birds
for another reason. He looks upon the
"snow" geese as the best hoax since
Brian G. Hughes fooled the cat show
judges with an alley cat. Mr.. Stokes
AYERS that he put the snow geese in
the swan pord sixteen months ago. and
that instead of coming from the roman
tic businesses of Labrador, they are fresh
from prosaic poultry yard In New Jer-
sey. Mr.. Stokes slighting,y refers to the
extraordinary birds as poultry mules
and says they are the result OF a union
between an Egyptian goose and a wild
duck from Winnipeg. They were hatched
III the DICK ydru OF Homer late0pOrts
the cartoonist in Mooristown,
Mr.. Stokes said yesterday; IT put those
three crazy birds in Central park MY
self. i wanted to see how much they
would interest the scientists. and so
stirred them up by anonymous inuqiries.
In the spring Of 1906 I stopped at Mr..
Davenport's in Morristown. saw these
geese, ana he told me about the mating
of his Egyptian goose with wild duck
which had been trapped in Winnipeg and
given to-. him. ! asked him to let me
have these birds to turn loose secretly in
Central park. And so brought them to
New York in my motor car. They were
very troublesome. kissing and squawlking
in their gunnysacks. and every ono we
passed seemed to look at my motor car,
suspiciously. 1t was dark when we
reached New York. We ran the machine
into the seventg-seventh street entrance
and my chauffeur and carried the hy-
brid geese to the brink Of the swan pond.
Then we went away I wrote a note 10
Professor Allen or to one Of the other
natueAllsts and inquired gravsly about the
arctic geese which we're to be seen in
Central park.
II don't blame the scientists for being
puzzled. The union OF a duck and goose
Is somewhat unusual. The so-calied
snow geese are poultry mulea They
can't breed"