Delacorte Music Clock

Constructed on a triple archway of brick, the George Delacorte Musical Clock can be found between the Wildlife Center and the Children’s Zoo. On the north side of the arches are Frederick George Richard Roth’s Honey Bear and Dancing Goat bronze sculptures dating from 1935. From 8:00 am — 5:00 pm on the hour and half-hour, one of 26 nursery rhyme tunes plays while a bear with tambourine, a hippopotamus with violin, a goat with pan pipes, a kangaroo and offspring with horns, and a penguin with drum glide around the base of the clock. In addition, on the hour two monkeys on the top of the clock appear to strike a bell.

The clock is one of the most whimsical features of the park. The musical repertoire of the clock includes:

Frère Jacque, Au Clair de la Lune, Hickory, Dickory Dock , Ding Dong Dell , Old King Cole, I Had a Little Nut Tree, Hey Diddle Diddle , Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Georgie Porgie, My Bonnie, Little Jack Horner, The Merry Farmer (Schumann), Mary Had a Little Lamb, Cradle Song (Brahms), Three Blind Mice, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Anvil Chorus, Sing a Song of Sixpence, There’s Music in the Air, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep , A Tisket, a Tasket, The Farmer in the Dell, Row, Row, Row Your Boat , Sailing, Sailing

There are, of course, appropriate selections played during the holidays with favorites such as Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, and Joy to the World ringing out from Thanksgiving until the second week of January.

Named for donor George Delacorte, the clock was designed to replicate the musical clocks he had seen throughout Europe; the animal figures were created by Italian sculptor Andrea Spadini.

Location: Between the Wildlife Center and the Children’s Zoo at 65th St.