ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



677 



it is only recently that their specific identity 

 has been admitted. 



The little white-fronted goose breeds in Lap- 

 land, and the nortliern coast of Siberia, migrat- 

 ing in large numbers in the fall to Europe and 

 Asia, going as far south as Greece and Turkey 

 and even into Northern P^gypt. In these re- 

 gions a great deal of damage is often done to 

 the winter crops ; young corn and wheat being 

 destroyed in great quantities. 



The second paddock is the smallest of all, 

 and includes perhajis one-half acre, with a small 

 pond. In this are kept the wonderful Little 

 Maned Goose, {Chenonetta jiibafa), of Aus- 

 tralia, two pairs of the Emperor Goose, (Phi- 

 lade caiiagica), with a pair of black swans, a 

 flock of the vicious Egyptian geese, and a num- 

 ber of ducks — wood. Mandarin, mallard (one of 

 these is a perfect albino), red-head, pintail, 

 European widgeon and blue and green-wing 

 teal. 



The maned geese are tiny creatures, no larger 

 than widgeon. In Australia they are known as 

 ■'wood ducks," and the females do, in a way, 

 resemble those of our own handsome little birds. 

 In general color, the males are dark above and 

 light gray on the breast, where the feathers are 

 mottled with black and grayish white; the lower 

 abdomen is a glossy black, and the black wing 

 speculum is bordered behind and in front with 

 white. The female is duller and the breast 

 feathers are more heavily mottled with white. 

 The feathers of the back of the head and neck 

 are somewliat lengthened, especially in the 

 males, giving the bird a "maned" appearance. 



This species ranges throughout the whole of 

 Australia and Tasmania. The eggs, nine to 

 twelve in number, and creamy white, are de- 

 posited in a hole in a tree standing near the 

 water. It is said that the female brings the 

 young to the ground in her bill. 



The Emperor Goose is the rarest of the spe- 

 cies found wild in America, and with its blue 

 body, finely barred with white, and pure white 

 head, makes a striking apjjearance. It inhabits 

 northeastern Asia and northwestern America, 

 and breeds near the mouth of the Yukon, and 

 the north coast of Siberia, laying its eggs on the 

 marshy shores. Late in the summer, when the 

 birds have moulted their wing feathers and are 

 unable to fly, thousands are taken in nets by the 

 Eskimos. This doubtless accounts for the in- 

 creasing rarity of the species. 



The third paddock of Mr. Havemeyer's wild 

 fowl enclosures is the largest and most impor- 

 tant. In the center is a pond of about two 



acres ; to the left stretches a sj^lendid four-acre 

 grazing ground, and to the right a two-acre 

 marsh, heavily grown up with aquatic plants 

 and marsh grass. 



The collection of water fowl in this paddock 

 presents a wonderful spectacle. One might find 

 it difiicult to believe that such a number of spe- 

 cies could live together so amicably ; yet the 

 only friction that has ever occurred is that 

 caused by the ever-quarrelsome Egyptian geese. 



This gathering includes about 200 swans and 

 geese representing the following twenty-eight 

 species : — 



Whooping swan, Bewick swan, whistling 

 swan, trumpeter swan, mute swan, black swan, 

 cereopsis goose, blue goose, lesser snow goose, 

 greater snow goose, Ross goose, gray-lag goose, 

 European white-fronted goose, American white- 

 fronted goose, bean goose, pink-footed goose, 

 bar-headed goose, Chinese goose, emperor 

 goose, Canada goose, Hutchins goose, white- 

 cheeked goose, cackling goose, barnacle goose, 

 black brant, Magellan upland goose, Egyptian 

 goose. 



The collection of swans is complete and in- 

 cludes specimens of all of the known species — 

 seven in number.* 



The trumpeters are of course the most rare 

 and interesting, as this species is thought to be 

 nearly extinct in the wild state. 



Hitherto the black-necked swan has rarely 

 lived for long in this country, but Mr. Have- 

 meyer's sjjecimens are kept out all winter and 

 are in perfect health. 



Four of the species of the genus Branta are 

 extremely interesting in their relations to each 

 other, and here offer an unusual opportunit)' for 

 comparison. The familiar Canada Goose, {B. 

 canadensis), may be taken as the type. The 

 White-Cheeked Goose, (B. c. occidentaUs) , is the 

 western representative of the Canada, and is 

 distinguished by its slightly darker color and 

 a white ring around the neck. The Hutchins 

 Goose, {B. c. hutchinsi), is a diminutive of the 

 Canada, and hardly differs from it in color and 

 comparative proportions. The Cackling Goose, 

 {B. c. minima), bears the same relation to the 

 white-cheeked as the Hutchins does to the Can- 

 ada. The white neck-ring is very clean-cut, 

 and the head and bill much smaller in propor- 

 tion to its size, approaching in this respect the 

 Barnacle Goose, (B. leucopsis). 



*For a detailed accoinit of all the known species of 

 swans, see "The Swans" l)y C. Win. Beebe, Tentli 

 Annual Report of the N. Y. Zoological Society, 1905. 



