76 From Magazines j &c. \ isi "oct 



They are both shy birds, and generally keep out of sight when 

 anyone is near, and I had no idea that a nest had been built 

 until one day in May, when I entered the covered aviary, the 

 male dashed from a dark corner where, high up, a bundle of 

 sticks and brushwood had been fixed, and disappeared through 

 an opening into the outer aviary. Getting a pair of steps, I soon 

 discovered a nest containing two creamy-white eggs. With this 

 species, as with all of the Pigeon tribe so far as I am aware, the 

 male sits during the greater part of the day, the female taking 

 his place during the late afternoon and sitting throughout the 

 night. One egg eventually disappeared from this nest, probably 

 having been knocked out by one of the birds as it dashed from 

 the nest. The other successfully hatched. I cannot say the 

 exact date, as I was most careful to go near the nest as seldom 

 as possible, but on 26th May I looked in the nest and discovered 

 a plump black squab, evidently hatched two or three days before. 

 When it left the nest (13th June) it appeared to be identical with 

 the young of C. uidica, but somewhat larger. As I write (17th 

 June) it is able to fly well, though it still frequently returns to 



the nest." 



* * * 



ECLirsE Plumage of Ducks. — In an article on this subject 

 in the June number of TJic Avicultural Magazine, Mr. Frank 

 Finn says : — " As far as I have been able to observe, Australian 

 and South American Anatidce have no eclipse plumage, whether 

 there is a well-marked sexual difference, as in the Rosy-billed 

 Pochard and in the Maned Goose {Chenonctta jubata) of Aus- 

 tralia, or whether both sexes bear a handsome quasi-male 

 plumage, such as the Chilian Widgeon {Mareca chilocnsis) or the 

 Grey Teal {Querqiiedula versicolor). The latter case is obviously 

 like that of the Shieldrakes, which everywhere and always 

 display a striking plumage. These, being powerful, intelligent 

 birds, probably need protection less than the other Ducks, and 

 it is to be noted, with regard to the South American and Aus- 

 tralian waterfowl, that they inhabit a region where the survival 

 of numerous primitive types is supposed to show that the 

 struggle for life is less keen. This would, of course, be an 

 argument in favour of the eclipse plumage as a protective one. 

 Whatever its use may be, there is some foundation for Mr. 

 Bonhote's idea that it is a weak phase, in so far as it is a 

 reversion to a more primitive colour." Of our Magpie Goose he 

 writes : — " There seems to be an impression abroad that all the 

 AnatidcE lose their quills and become flightless when moulting. 

 But there is at least one remarkable exception — the curious Pied 

 Goose {Ajtseranas melanoleuca) of Australia — a bird remarkable 

 for its peculiar feet, which are only half-webbed and have a 

 well-developed hind toe, unlike the short, useless member of 

 most of the family. This species was stated by that well-known 



