Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-09
ZOO GETS CURIOUS
BIRDS AND BEASTS
ReptiIia and Many Strange
Animals Are Among
Recent Gifts.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
New animal and reptile curiosities
from all over the world have been add
ed to the exhibits at the National Zoo
logical Park in the past few days.
Stephen Haweis, Washington artist,
| now in the island of Dominica, British
West Indies, has sent five giant toadS
with bodies five to six inches long.
These are the largest of the toad family
and when full grown sometimes are a
foot long. When frightened they swell
| up like T1lbber balloons. This Is the
animals one means Of defense, accord
| ing to DR.. William M. Mann, Zoo direc-
| tor. It presents such loathsome ap-
pearance when swollen up that other
creatures are afraid to touch 1t. This
| toad is so confident Of itself that it even
will defy a man in this fashion.
Red-Spotted Bull Frogs.
From Brazil, DR.. Mann has obtained
| a family of red-spotted bull frogs. In
their native swampS these are very
brilliantly colored, but the spots are
! hard to detect when they are In a
| torpid state. Both the toads and the
frogs have been put in cold storage at
/
quarters are prepared for them in the
new reptile house.
| He also secured half a dozen Euro
pean green lizards. Seldom seen in
! the United States, these creatures are
we'll known in the poetry and art of
Southern Europe and sometimes ap-
| pear as far north as England. In
| Italy and Southern Spain they are
abundant on walls and gravestones and
/ - ,rie 80 irI etHY1
Stitions.
| Among the new animals is the tayra-
large Central American weasel. dark
j brown in color with a cream gray chew
ron on its chest. Two Virginia white
tailed deer have been secured which are
direct descendants Of herd established
on the Mount Vernon estate by George
Washington. These deer, DR.. Mann
says, formerly lived wild in the park,
but up to the present they have not
done we'll in captivity there.
Mara Is Weird Creature.
| The rarest of the new creatures are
a pair of Patagonian maras, animals
remotely related to the guinea pig, which
present weird appearance with their
long, matchlike hind limbs. and enor-
nous ears; They are about the size OF
large rabbits and travel across the
Patagonian wastes in small parties in
| single file. They are burrowing ami
mails.
The bird collection has been en-
| riched by a king bird of paradise, the
smallest and least known of those gor-
! geously colored relatives of the crow
family from New Guinea. This bird
is of very brilliant red The Zoo now
has four species Of birds of paradise
which, next Fall, are expected to prove
the star attraction of the birdhouse
They moult during the Summer.
Bird Carries Own Pigments.
A white-crested tourocou, from the
East Indies, soon will reach Washing
ton. This green and blue tropical bird
is remarkable from the fact that its
colors wash out in the rain and con-
tinually are renewed from pigment
forming material in the birds body
breasted "toucan, parrotlike creature
from the Amazon jungles. DR.. Mann
has ordered a pair Of European ruffs
members OF the pheasant family, with
striking Queen Elizabeth collars, He
also expects soon q pair of axis deer
small, spotted animals from India
These may become the basis of herd
With work on the new reptile house
scheduled to start this Fall, DR.. Mann
|
striking reptiles from all parts OF the
world and keep them in temporary
quarters until the opening. Every year
a large number of reptiles, especially
of North America, are offered to the
Zoo, but few have been accepted In the
past because there were no prospects
of suitable quarters, without which all
reptiles are sluggish and do not live
we'll. With cages, where the tempera-
tire and light can be adjusted precise
ly to duplicate tropical conditions. DR.
Mann sees no reason why any reptile
| will not thrive.
Weather Hard ON Gorillas.
A hot washington Summer is hard
on porillas. N'Gi, the prince OF the Zoe
collection, is being given special at
tention During his recent inspection
of European ZOOS, DR.. Mann made q
special study OF six gorhias m captlvi.y
there. They were all smaller than
MOI and the British and German AMI
NAL men were pessimistic : over the
possibility Of rearing these animals In
cantivitv. They all die, either OF
pneumonia or fall victims to some OBJ
scure Intestinal trouble.
| N'Gi has been given several thor
ourh physical examinations during the
past few weeks, both by q veterinarian
and child specialist, and they nave
been unable to find anything wrong
with him. except that he does not play
as much as he once did. He does moi
seem to care for walks about the park
with Head Keeper william r. Black
burn His former owner, w. e. Buck
of Camden, N. j., came to see him yes
terday and insisted on giving him q
dose of castor oil, which the little
gorilla, overjoyed at seeing his former
master, swallowed with much distaste
Il This is his hard Summer, says DR.
II Mann, and II he pulls through sue.
cessfully he Is hopeful that NGi viii