270 LORD LILFORD 



species. The present survivor is a female, and by 

 no means a handsome or conspicuous bird. 



* A small flock of Marbled Ducks from Spain 

 are worthy of notice as exceedingly rare in 

 living collections, though common enough in 

 Andalusia and North- West Africa. Perhaps 

 the most beautiful of the web-footed birds in 

 this portion of our aviaries are the Japanese 

 Teal, but with these little ducks, as indeed with 

 almost all others of the duck family, we have 

 been grievously disappointed in our hopes of 

 nests and eggs. In fact, with regard to the two 

 last-mentioned species, I am not aware of the 

 production even of a single egg. We have a 

 fine pair of the Blue-wavy or White-necked 

 Goose from North America, and of the White 

 Snow Goose from the same country. 



' In the central aviary will be found two very 

 beautiful species of small Herons the Little and 

 the Buff-backed Egrets. My specimens came 

 to me from Spain, but the latter bird is very 

 abundant also in Egypt, and is constantly 

 pointed out by the guides to British tourists as 



the Sacred Ibis of the ancient Egyptians a bird 



that has for many years been almost unknown 



