74 On the Breeding of Waterfowl at Gooilust. 



never carries its chicks on its back, as Cygnus nigricolUs and 

 some of the other Swans are apt to do. 



During the first days of the life of her chicks, the old 

 female Trumpeter often retires to her nest for hours together, 

 warming them under her, and she continues to do this 

 during the night for a long time. Young Trumpeter Swans, 

 when fully fledged, are very active birds. They fly with 

 great ease, rising directly from the water into the air, without 

 running over it at first with flapping wings, as so many 

 of the larger waterfowl do. They also dive with great ease. 



Of Bewick's Swan (Ct/gnus bewicki), I have not bred any 

 yet, but in October 1902 a young bird of the year, which 

 had been winged on the Zuiderzee, was brought to me. I 

 had, therefore, opportunities of observing its juvenile dress 

 and its changes of plumage. 



The colour of the feathers was of a nearly uniform brownish 

 grey, of a lighter shade than in a young Trumpeter Swan. 

 The bill was flesh-coloured, blackish at the point, with a few 

 black spots near the front, and lighter at the sides in front 

 of the eyes. The legs were grey. By the following March 

 the hill had become black, -with a few r flesh-coloured spots. 

 The parts of the beak which in the adults arc yellow were now 

 well-defined and nearly white zones. The legs and feet were 

 blackish. The grey plumage was at that time much inter- 

 mixed with white. When a year and a half old the bird was 

 like an adult, except that the neck had still some grey 

 spots, as is the case with a young Trumpeter Swan of the 

 same age. 



I kept a pair of the African Comb-Goose (Sarcidiornis 

 africana) for many years without their shewing any signs 

 of breeding. Last summer, however, I saw the birds 

 copulate repeatedly, and the female began to wander about 

 restlessly in search of a suitable nesting-place. As she 

 was pinioned and quite unable to fly, I was not a little 

 surprised to find her one day in one enclosure and another 

 day in a second, although the wire-netting partitions 

 which surrounded them were quite six feet high. The 

 only explanation is that she must have climbed the fence, 



