﻿Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  S^c. 
  153 
  

  

  Sir,— 
  On 
  the 
  15tli 
  of 
  September, 
  1892, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  C. 
  Gie 
  

   brought 
  me 
  a 
  duck 
  which 
  his 
  herd 
  had 
  shot 
  at 
  Rictaley, 
  

   about 
  eight 
  miles 
  from 
  Capetown. 
  I 
  recognized 
  it 
  as 
  the 
  

   European 
  Shoveller 
  [Spatula 
  clypeata) 
  ; 
  but, 
  to 
  be 
  quite 
  

   certain 
  on 
  the 
  point, 
  I 
  compared 
  it 
  with 
  the 
  description 
  

   given 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Seebohm's 
  book 
  on 
  British 
  Birds, 
  and 
  found 
  it 
  

   to 
  correspond 
  exactly. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  male 
  plumage, 
  and 
  dis- 
  

   section 
  confirmed 
  the 
  sex. 
  The 
  head 
  and 
  upper 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   neck 
  were 
  slightly 
  spotted 
  with 
  brown, 
  owing, 
  I 
  presume, 
  to 
  

   some 
  change 
  of 
  plumage. 
  

  

  The 
  specimen 
  has 
  been 
  presented 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Gie 
  to 
  the 
  

   South- 
  African 
  Museum. 
  Mr. 
  Roland 
  Trimen, 
  the 
  curator, 
  

   confirms 
  the 
  identification. 
  Mr. 
  Gie 
  states 
  that 
  his 
  herd, 
  

   who 
  is 
  an 
  intelligent 
  nian^ 
  says 
  there 
  Avere 
  several 
  others, 
  

   and 
  that 
  two 
  years 
  ago 
  he 
  saw 
  others 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  species. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  days 
  previously 
  I 
  had 
  seen 
  a 
  duck 
  Avith 
  a 
  distinctly 
  

   white 
  breast. 
  I 
  forebore 
  to 
  shoot 
  at 
  it^ 
  as 
  I 
  thought 
  it 
  must 
  

   be 
  a 
  tame 
  bird, 
  none 
  of 
  our 
  ducks 
  having 
  white 
  breasts. 
  

   The 
  light 
  was 
  bad, 
  and 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  make 
  a 
  closer 
  examina- 
  

   tion, 
  as 
  the 
  bird 
  rose 
  and 
  flew 
  away. 
  I 
  then 
  saw 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  

   a 
  tame 
  bird 
  and 
  flred, 
  but 
  without 
  eS"ect. 
  

  

  I 
  may 
  mention 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  trace 
  on 
  the 
  plumage 
  of 
  

   the 
  specimen 
  having 
  ever 
  been 
  in 
  confinement, 
  and 
  I 
  know 
  of 
  

   no 
  one 
  who 
  keeps 
  foreign 
  waterfowl 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   Colony, 
  or, 
  indeed, 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  part. 
  

  

  The 
  Shoveller 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  previously 
  

   recorded 
  in 
  Africa 
  south 
  of 
  Abyssinia. 
  So 
  distant 
  an 
  ex- 
  

   tension 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  continent 
  is 
  very 
  

   interesting. 
  I 
  am, 
  yours 
  &c., 
  

  

  Capetown, 
  W. 
  B. 
  Fairbridge. 
  

  

  12tli 
  October, 
  1892. 
  

  

  Report 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  for 
  1892. 
  — 
  The 
  annual 
  

   Parliamentary 
  "Return^' 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  for 
  1892 
  

   contains 
  a 
  statement 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  the 
  Zoological 
  

   Department 
  in 
  1891. 
  Amongst 
  the 
  ''principal 
  events^'' 
  

   alluded 
  to 
  is 
  the 
  " 
  arrangement 
  of 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  

   birds' 
  eggs.^' 
  This 
  is 
  described 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  In 
  the 
  old 
  

  

  