210



Correspondence.



good many nests were built at different times by these birds, but not one of them

was ever completed, all were deficient in the cup and entrance tube. In the case of

Hyphantornis I had a male of H. cucullatus, both sexes of II. melanocephalus,

H. capitalis, and II vitellinus, and in all cases where nests were completed in my

aviaries both sexes (not, however, always of the same species) were present. A. C.

Stark, in the ‘ Birds of South Africa,’ distinctly states that both sexes of II. velatvs

combine in building the nest, the male sitting outside and the female inside; and I

am sure that I have seen pairs of my birds engaged in constructing the cup. But

it is interesting to know from Mr. Shore Bailey’s observations that males of Hyphan¬

tornis are capable of completing the work without the assistance of their wives.


A. G. Butler.



THE MANED GOOSE.


Sir, —I was much interested in Mr. Wormald’s account of his Maned

Geese and congratulate him on his most excellent drawing of this charming little

goose, one of the most attractive species of waterfowl that I know. Mr. Wormald

says he is not aware that the Maned Goose has ever bred in this country. If he looks

up his back volumes of The Avicultural Magazine he will find in the volume for

1910, on p. 335, a note on the waterfowl bred in the Zoological Gardens that year,

and amongst a number of youngsters mentioned are two young Maned Geese. At

that time it evidently did not occur to me to give a fuller account of this interesting

event which I hoped would be repeated, but I will try and make up for the omission

now.


In 1908 I brought home two pairs of these little geese from Australia, where

it is known as the “Wood Duck,” and as they seemed, unlike most of their tribe

to be quite inoffensive and could be safely trusted with ducks, a pair was turned

loose on the Three-island-pond when I took charge of the bird department in the

following year. In the spring of 1910 the female was seen to visit in turn nearly all

of the nesting boxes that were fixed at a height from the ground.


It is our custom to periodically visit the islands and collect any full clutches

of eggs or eggs that appear to have been forsaken by the birds with a view to

incubating them under hens, and on one such visit in May we discovered in a box

fixed about 3 ft. from the ground with a tree-trunk forming a ladder thereto

three eggs which looked like small gooses’ eggs and which we thought must belong

to Chenonetla jubata. They were of a creamy white colour with a glossy surface

but as they did not look particularly fresh we thought it best to take them in case

the bird had no intention of returning and laying more. We placed them under a

small hen which duly hatched all three. One was a weakling and died on leaving

the shell, and I have its skin before me as I write. It is of a mouse-brown on the

upper surface, darker on the head. The throat, cheeks, and under-surface generally'

are yellowish white. A whitish line passes from the base of the bill over the eye

and another below the eye, passing to the back of the cheek, where it joins the

white of the lower part of the cheek. There is also a whitish patch on the inner

edge of the wing and another at the side of the base of the tail.


The other two goslings were successfully reared without difficulty. They

commenced to graze at an early age and grew very rapidly, both proving to be

males.



