NOTES. 91 



Hudson's Bay, but east of this it is not fomid, or is, at all 

 events, very rare. It migrates south to Mexico, Florida, 

 and Cuba. With such a range it would be a most 

 remarkable performance for the bird to wander to Ireland. 



With regard to the probability of its being an escape, 

 I cannot do better than quote from a letter from the 

 Duchess of Bedford, who has such a great experience of 

 birds in captivity. Her Grace writes : — " Our Canadian 

 Cranes are aU. pinioned, but I think it would be very 

 unwise to assume that the one shot in Ireland was a 

 genuine migrant. Many people keep one or two Cranes 

 which are never heard of outside their own properties, 

 not to speak of the birds whicli might escape from some 

 of the more famous collections in France, Holland, etc. 

 Some of our Manchurian Cranes, Flamingoes, Pelicans, etc., 

 which have escaped from Woburn would show absolutely 

 nO sign of captivity. They came with c^d wings only, were 

 turned out in the jjark, and, after moulting, flew about the 

 park for some time and then went off," 



The fact that the bird was shot as long ago as 1905 and 

 has only just been recorded makes it practically impossible 

 to trace whether anyone had lost such a bird at that time. 



H.F.W. 



NESTING OF THE AVOCET AND EEDSHANK 

 IN THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



Mr. E.. I. PococK contributes an interesting article to the 

 " Avicultural Magazine " (1907, p. 258) on the nesting of 

 the Avocet (Beciirvirostra avocetta) in the waders' aviary of the 

 London Zoological Gardens this spring. Three eggs were laid 

 and they all hatched out, but two of the young were accidentally 

 killed. The period of incubation was, as nearly as can be 

 computed, twenty-four days, instead of seventeen as previously 

 stated. When about a week old, the surviving cbick was seen 

 " to make use of the lateral sweeping action to skim floating 

 particles off the surface of the water," although the bill at the 

 time had scarcely a perceptible trace of tilt. This is the tirst 

 recorded instance of the Avocet breeding in captivity. 



In the same magazine (p. 274) it is recorded that a Redshank 

 {Totamis caliclris) hatched a brood of three on Judo 28th in the 

 same aviary. This is also a first instance of this species 

 breeding in captivity. TT F W 



