PEOPAGATION 49 



During the season of 1916 a few attempts have been made to breed 

 the Band-tailed Pigeon. Three men in the San Francisco Bay region 

 liave secured birds from Oregon and are experimenting with them. 

 All three men are experienced aviarists and will certainly meet with 

 success, if success be possible. In the first season a deserted egg was 

 hatched under a domestic pigeon, and one pair of Band-tails them- 

 selves successfully incubated a set of eggs. 



Propagation of Waterfowl 



Experiments by private individuals have demonstrated the fact 

 that of all the waterfowl the Mallard is the easiest to breed in captivity. 

 This might have been expected from the fact that all or most of 

 the breeds of tame ducks are descendants from wild Mallard stock. 

 Wild ^lallards have been bred in numbers even in city yards. For 

 example, Mr. Theodore Kytka has for several years reared wild Mal- 

 lards in his backyard in San Francisco. Better results are obtained 

 as the birds become tamer ; those which have been reared in captivity 

 nest more readily than captive wild birds. Hence there is a tendency 

 among breeders to direct their efforts toward the increase of breeding 

 stock rather than toward the rearing of birds for the purpose of 

 restocking wild land. We are not aware of any instance where Pin- 

 tails, Shovellers, Teal, or other ducks have been successfully reared in 

 any numbers under artificial conditions. The sea-ducks, which include 

 the Redhead, Canvasback, Scaups, Golden-eyes and Buffle-head, are 

 very difficult to handle in captivity, in that they require animal food 

 which they are accustomed to obtain only by diving. Pinioned Lesser 

 Scaup Ducks on Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, have 

 nested and brought off broods, but in every case the 3'ouug have failed 

 to survive. 



Several attempts to rear Canada Geese in captivity have met with 

 success where the birds were kept at high altitudes. Mr. Henry Shook, 

 of Yreka, Siskiyou County, succeeded in rearing six young from a 

 pair of pinioned birds during the first season they were in his posses- 

 sion. Eggs taken from Lake Tahoe marshes have been hatched and 

 the young reared by residents of El Dorado County, and reports have 

 been received to the effect that eggs secured at Honey Lake, in Lassen 

 County, were successfully hatched by residents of the vicinity. On 

 the other hand, decoy geese which have been kept in captivity for 

 many years in the Sacramento Valley have shown no desire to breed. 

 Canada Geese hatched from eggs secured at Lake Tahoe have been 

 bred to a Chinese Horned Goose by Mr. Chase Littlejohn, of Redwood 

 City. The hybrids very closely resemble the Canada Goose. 



