Correspondence.



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came from Mr. D’Urban, the simple and obvious course was for Mr. Witherby to

obtain a statement from Mr. D Urban to that effect, and I suggest that he might

with advantage have done so before penning his letter.


For the past twenty years I have done my best for the cause of our vanishing

birds, and I shall continue to do so until the end of the chapter. I have always

endeavoured to avoid giving offence, but there seems to be a very sensitive spot in

most ornithologists—can it be their consciences ?


It is important for us all to remember that our life-work lives after us, and

that we must so build that the house we leave remains strong and firm. If we

have devoted our lives to the destruction of bird-life, posterity will not forget the

fact.


There are scientific ornithologists and Mr. Witherby is one of them, but I

have no hesitation in saying that the great majority of his followers are bird-slayers

simply and solely for their own amusement: if they are not wise enough to see the

writing on the wall now, they probably very soon will do so, for I have talked with

many persons on this subject, and am convinced that there is a growing feeling in

this country that this senseless, purposeless, and cruel slaughter of our rare birds

shall be put an end to.


W. E. Teschemaker.



UPLAND GEESE DYING OFF.


Dear Sir,— I wonder whether any of your readers can tell me why it is I am

unable to rear my young Upland geese. They die off every year from apparently

acute diarrhoea. Their bowels literally turn to water, which pour from them when

one handles their still warm, dead bodies. They will eat nothing but grass and

weeds, and I thought that it is possible that they may be eating something poisonous.

I ought to say that they have no shelter whatever, and one day when they were

about a week old we had three and a half inches of rain. This may have chilled

them. I shall be very much obliged for any information on this subject.


Truly yours,


Wm. Shore-Bailey.



[The following is, in part, an answer.]


I rear hybrid Upland + ruddy-headed geese every year, and also pure

ruddy-headed, keeping them in a coop on a grass run, and giving them duck meal

and. later on, a little grain. They run about and eat grass,dandelion leaves, and

plantain, etc., and also lawn-mowings. They need fresh supplies of clean water

for drinking. When they are about a month old I confine them in a wire run, as

they are apt to stray and be lost in long grass or taken by vermin. As a rule they

prosper. I never pinion them now, as they remain at home, only flying from one

meadow to another in the close proximity of the house.


H. D. Astley.



The Editor has shown me Mr. W. Shore-Bailey’s letter, but I am afraid I

cannot definitely explain the reason for the goslings dying in this manner. As a

rule Upland geese rear their young without any difficulty provided they have an

ample supply of short, tender grass, and this, I believe, is about all they require,



