240



Correspondence.



Flanders, never to return. This is no reason, however, why other members of the

Society should not pursue a matter which I venture to think would be a great

interest not only to them, but also as an extension of knowledge for future

generations. Yours faithfully,


C. Barnby Smith.


“ Woodlands," Retford, May 8th, 1917.



CON TRAFEITOS.


Sir, —In the current * Avicultural ’ Dr. Hopkinson asks if the yellow

coloration often seen in Amazons is due to faking by rubbing some juice into the

body of the bird. In Brazil the making of these “ contrafeitos ” is a regular busi¬

ness, so it is not surprising that one sees, even over here, so many “home-made ”

lutinos. The feathers are plucked out over a selected area, and the cutaneous

secretion of a small frog is rubbed into the denuded space ; or the frog itself may

be used in the same way. Dendrobates tinctorius is the species employed : it is a

pretty little creature, about the size of the European tree-frog, and is widely dis¬

tributed in South America, from Panama to Ecuador. The cutaneous glands are

but small, but their secretion is very poisonous, and is probably allied to the toxin

which has been isolated from similar glands in the spotted salamander (Salamandra

maculosa). Yours, etc.,


Graham Renshaw.



SUPPOSED FALCATED DUCKS BRED AT KEW.


Dear Sir, —Yesterday (May 14th) I had an opportunity of observing a pair

of the supposed Falcated Ducks bred last year at Kew (see the January ‘Avicul¬

tural Magazine,’ p. 96), and found that they were Falcated-Gadwall hybrids, as I

expected, having last year seen a Falcated drake in company with a Gadwall

female on the lake, and no female Falcated in evidence, at breeding-time.


At the same time, I must admit that the Falcated species is very dominant

in the colour of the hybrid drake, which, however, has no buff on the lower tail-

coverts, and has the throat buff instead of white, this colour extending over the

cheeks nearly up to the eyes, and passing narrowly up along the base of the bill

to end in a spot on the forehead. In structural characters, however, the Falcated

is recessive, the hybrid having neither crests, elongated wing-feathers, nor long

tail-coverts developed to any noticeable extent.


The female shows the Gadwall blood in having the underside of the bill

orange, which colour extends indistinctly over the sides of the beak also ; her

speculum is also only smoky, not so intensely black as it should be, and she has

not the slight development of crest that even a female Falcated shows.


The male’s note is a whistle, much like the Falcated drake’s, and not at

all like the strong coarse quack of the Gadwall drake. F. Finn.



[Note .—In writing birds’ names, if they occur in a list, capitals can be used

— e. g. the Great Titmouse; but it seems advisable not to make use of capitals

otherwise— e. g. “ By a stream I observed a pair of grey wagtails.”— Ed.]



