GAME-BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



which nearly always ended in the disappointing view of 

 some young Egyptian Geese. Once, however, a young Boer 

 came in and told me that he had a pair on his farm. I took 

 him out and showed him a tame Egyptian Goose I had, asking 

 him if it was the same as the birds he was talking about. 

 After firm assurances that his were quite different I rode 

 some twenty miles to his farm, and after the customary coffee 

 and handshaking all round and the usual volley of questions 

 about my family, age, where I came from, etc., I went to see 

 the Berg-eende. They were a lovely pair, but alas were 

 full-winged, and by repeated efforts to catch them they 

 had been made too shy for their timidity to be overcome. 

 Try as we could I had to go home without them, and shortly 

 afterwards they were accidentally shot. Their owner told 

 me that he had surprised an old female Sheld-drake leading 

 her youngsters across the veldt ; that they were just 

 hatched, and that he had caught two of them, the birds 

 in question. 



The usual cry is a loud nasal " How," but they have many 

 varied notes. When they flight from one dam to another, 

 or when one bird is separated from its mate, the note generally 

 used is the loud sonorous " How." The cry is very much 

 like that of the Indian Ruddy Sheld-drake (C nitila), and those 

 who know this bhd will be struck at once by the resemblance 

 between the two species. 



Like all other Sheld-drake, the South African species breeds 

 in holes. The nests have been found among rocks, but near 

 Bloemfontein they usually breed in ant-bear holes. 



The eggs are creamy-white, and measure 2.5 to 2.0 by 1.8 in. 



Sheld-drake are most indifferent-eating, being both rank and 

 tough ; but they are so wild and take such care of themselves, 

 that they seldom get in position to appear on the table. 



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