Read Ebook: Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park (September 1915) Thirteenth Edition by Hornaday William T William Temple

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Page Statistics of the Zoological Park 10 Officers of the Society 11 Origin 13 Means of Access 16 Admission 17 Physical Aspect of the Grounds 21

MAMMALS. Bison Ranges 26 Mountain Sheep Hill 29 Antelope House 35 Small-Deer House 42 Miscellaneous Mammals 49 White Mountain Goat 50 Prong-Horned Antelope 51 Camel House 53 Llama House 55 North American Deer 57 Zebra House 63 Asiatic and European Deer 66 Lion House 71 Sea-Lions 78 Primate House 80 Elephant House 89 Wolf Dens 98 Fox Dens 101 Otter Pools 103 Small-Mammal House 104 Puma and Lynx House 115 Burrowing Mammals 116 Prairie-Dog Village 118 Bear Dens 119 Raccoon Tree 128 Beaver Pond 128 Economic Rodent-Reptile Collection 130

BIRDS. Goose Aviary 133 Flying Cage 135 Aquatic-Bird House 141 Eagle and Vulture Aviary 143 Wild Turkey Enclosure 146 Large-Bird House 146 Wild Fowl Pond 153 Pheasant and Pigeon Aviary 155 Ostrich House 162 Cranes 167

REPTILES. Reptile House 171 Turtles and Tortoises 172 Crocodiles and Alligators 175 Lizards 177 Serpents 179 Batrachians or Amphibians 182

INSECTS. Insect Collection 185 Index 188

MAPS. Map of Zoological Park Second page of cover Sketch Map, New York 14 Sketch Map, Vicinity of Park 16

STATISTICS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

January, 1915.

Final plan of the Zoological Park approved by Park Board, November 22, 1897. Zoological Society assumed control of grounds, July 1, 1898. First building begun, August 11, 1898. Park formally opened to the public, November 9, 1899. Administration and Service Buildings 2 Large Animal Buildings 14 Small Animal Buildings 10 Large Groups of Outdoor Dens, Aviaries and Corrals 13 Animal Storehouses, for winter use 3 Restaurants 2 Public-Comfort Buildings 6 Entrances 7 Area of Park Land and Water 264 acres Area of Water 30 acres Walks and Roads 7.78 miles Fences 10.55 miles

LIVE ANIMALS IN THE COLLECTIONS. January, 1915.

Mammals 204 species, 586 specimens. Birds 811 " 2,753 " Reptiles 164 " 1,014 " Total 1,179 4,353

Attendance of visitors in 1914 2,020,433 Total attendance of visitors from 1899 to Jan., 1915 19,325,590

NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY

GENERAL STATUS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

Origin.--The New York Zoological Park originated with the New York Zoological Society, a scientific body incorporated in 1895, under a special charter granted by the Legislature of the State of New York. The declared objects of the Society are three in number--"A public Zoological Park; the preservation of our native animals; the promotion of zoology." The Society has enrolled among its various classes over 2,000 members.

Sources of Income.--The funds devoted to the development of the Zoological Park have been derived from the following sources:

The Zoological Society has expended, of its own funds, for plans, construction and live animals, over 1,000. This sum has been derived from its special subscription fund, and from the annual dues and fees of its members.

The Society maintains a supply of boats for hire, and riding animals of various kinds for the amusement of children.

Location.--The Zoological Park is the geographical center of that portion of Greater New York now known as Bronx County. From east to west it is half-way between the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, and from north to south it is midway between the mouth of the Harlem River and Mount Vernon. From the City Hall to the Reptile House the distance is eleven miles. The distance by automobile from the Central Park Plaza to the Concourse Entrance is 9 1/2 miles. The Northwest Entrance is about half a mile from Fordham station on the Harlem Railway.

The area of the Park is 264 acres, divided as follows:

Land area west of the Boston Road 150 acres. Land area east of the Boston Road 80 " Bronx Lake 25 " Lake Agassiz 5 1/2 " Aquatic Mammals' Pond, Cope Lake and Beaver Pond 3 1/2 " Total area 264 acres.

MEANS OF ACCESS.

Via the Subway, to the Boston Road Entrance.--The terminus of the eastern branch of the Subway, at "180th St., Zoological Park," lands visitors at the southeastern entrances to the Zoological Park, at West Farms. Visitors from points below 96th Street must be careful to board the "Bronx Park" trains, and not the "Broadway" trains.

Routes for Automobiles or Carriages.--Via Central Park, Lenox Avenue, Macomb's Dam Bridge and Jerome Avenue or Grand Concourse to Pelham Avenue, thence eastward to the Concourse Entrance, where motor cars and carriages are admitted to the Park.

Via the Third Avenue Elevated.--The Third Avenue Elevated Railway has been extended to Bedford Park, and visitors coming to the Zoological Park on it or on the Harlem Railroad should alight at Fordham Station, from which the northwest entrance is half a mile distant, due eastward, on Pelham Avenue, via the Union Railway surface cars.

Surface Cars.--The Southern Boulevard and the Zoological Park Cars of the Union Railway now run to both the Crotona Entrance and the Fordham Entrance. The Crosstown cars of the same line intersect the Southern Boulevard three blocks south of the Crotona Entrance.

ADMISSION.

Free Admission.--On all holidays, and on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, the Zoological Park is open free to the public.

Pay Admission.--On every Monday and Thursday, save when either of those days falls on a holiday, all members of the Zoological Society who surrender coupons from their membership tickets, and all other persons holding tickets from the Society, will be admitted free. All other persons seeking admission will be admitted on payment of twenty-five cents for each adult, and fifteen cents for each child under twelve years of age. Tickets are sold only at the entrance gates.

Holidays on Pay Days.--Whenever a legal holiday falls on a Monday or Thursday, admission to the Park will be free on that day.

Hours for Opening and Closing.--From May 1st to November 1st the gates will be opened at 9 A. M. daily, and closed half an hour before sunset. From November 1st to May 1st the gates will open at 10 A. M.

Entrances, Walks, etc.--The portion of the Zoological Park situated west of the Boston Road has been enclosed. Access to this area is provided by six entrances, one situated at each corner--one on the Boston Road and one at the bridge on Pelham Avenue. The latter is a carriage entrance for visitors wishing to drive to the north end of Baird Court. From all these entrances broad walks lead into the Park and through it, reaching all the collections of animals now installed.

Carriage Roads.--The only wagon road which enters the central portion of the Park now occupied by animals is the Service Road, which enters from the Southern Boulevard, at 185th Street, and runs eastward, to the Service Building, Reptile House, Bear Dens, and Rocking Stone Restaurant.

Automobile and Carriage Entrance.--A fine public carriage road and concourse, leading from Pelham Avenue Bridge and to the upper end of Baird Court, was completed in 1908. This drive is open to carriages or motors, daily, and it affords easy access to the most important group of buildings. It is subject to the same regulations as all other entrances, except that carriages and automobiles are admitted.

The Boston Road, which runs through the Park from south to north, near the western bank of the Bronx Lake, is open at all hours. It has recently--and for the first time--been finely improved by the Park Department for the Borough of the Bronx, and a drive through it affords a fine view of the eastern side of the Buffalo Range, and the finest portion of the heavy forest of the Zoological Park.

As a matter of course, the ranges of the buffalo, antelope, deer, moose, and elk, are in full view from the Kingsbridge Road and Southern Boulevard, and the Zoological Society has planned that the view from those avenues shall be left open sufficiently that the herds may be seen to good advantage.

The Rocking Stone Restaurant, No. 46, has been designed to serve all the purposes that its name implies. It contains dining-rooms in which full meals may be obtained, lunch-rooms wherein choice food will be served at popular prices, and in the basement, toilet-rooms will be found.

The Service Building, No. 28.--Near the Reptile House, and at the geographical center of the enclosed grounds, is situated a building which contains the Bureau of Administration of the Zoological Park. Here will be found the offices of the Chief Clerk, several other Park officers, and the workshops and storerooms.

Children lost in the Park, and property lost or found, should be reported without delay at the Chief Clerk's office in this building. The telephone call of the Zoological Park is 953 Tremont.

Arrangement of Collections.--Inasmuch as the physical features of the Zoological Park grounds were important factors in locating the various collections of animals, a perfect zoological arrangement was impossible. The existing plan represents the limit of acceptable possibilities in grouping related animals.

The entire southern and western sides of the Park are exclusively devoted to the Hoofed Animals, in addition to which other members of that Order will be found at the Elephant and Small-Mammal Houses. The Carnivorous Animals will be found at the Lion House, Wolf and Fox Dens, Small-Mammal House and Bear Dens. The Birds are in two groups; one in the lower end of Bird Valley, and the Large Bird-House on Baird Court; the other around the Wild-Fowl Pond, south of the Wolf Dens.

The existence of six entrances to the Park renders it impossible to lay out an all-embracing "tour" for the visitor, and develop the Guide Book accordingly. The various collections will be handled in zoological groups, but the various groups cannot follow each other in zoological sequence. The table of contents and a comprehensive index will render each item of the subject matter quickly available.

PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE GROUNDS.

The extreme length of the Park from north to south is 4,950 feet, or 330 feet less than one mile; and its extreme width is 3,120 feet, or three-fifths of a mile. Roughly estimated, one-third of the land area is covered by heavy forest, one-third by open forest, and the remaining third consists of open meadows and glades. The highest point of land in the Park is the crest of Rocking Stone Hill, the elevation of which is 94.8 feet above sea level.

Topography.--Speaking broadly, the Zoological Park is composed of granite ridges running from north to south. In many places their crests have been denuded of earth by the great glacier which once pushed its edge as far south as New York City. In the valleys lying between these glacier-scraped ridges, great quantities of sandy, micaceous soil have been deposited; but in one spot--the Wild-Fowl Pond--what was once a green, glacial lake fifteen feet deep, presently became a vast rock-walled silo filled with vegetable matter and a trembling bog of peat. Everywhere in the Park glacial boulders of rough granite or smoothly rounded trap-rock, varying in size from a cobble-stone to the thirty-ton Rocking Stone, have been dropped just where the warm southern sun freed them from the ice. The Park contains thousands of them, many of which have been removed from walks and building sites only with great labor.

In three of the four principal valleys of the Park, bogs have been converted into ponds, and in the largest and deepest of all lie Bronx Lake and Lake Agassiz. The bed-rock underlying or cropping out in the Park exhibits pink granite, gray granite, rotten gneiss, and quartz in bewildering variety. Occasionally in trench-digging a ledge is encountered which yields good building-stone for rough work, but usually our rock is so full of mica as to be worthless.

The water-levels in the various portions of the Park are as follows:

Above Sea Level.

Surface of Bronx Lake 20.40 feet Surface of Lake Agassiz 31.70 " Surface of Cope Lake and Duck Ponds 47.00 " Surface of Wild-Fowl Pond 65.00 " Surface of Beaver Pond 44.00 "

The floor levels of some of the important buildings are as follows:

Above Sea Level.

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