450 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. [Juiie 15, 



" Winchester, May 26th. 

 " Dkar Lord Lilford, — 



" Yours received this afternoon. I found no nests of the Flamingo 

 when with Rudolf ; this was on May 2yth, 18/9. We rode many 

 miles over the Guadalquivir marshes, and saw a flock of about 2000 

 birds. I found three eggs lying in the slob land about a mile from 

 the river. The Spaniards swore that a few weeks before a man from 

 San Lucar de Barrameda had taken about a thousand eggs. This, 

 I am pretty sure, was a lie. From my own observations they appeared 

 not to have begun to nest when we were there. They were in one 

 immense flock, and flew bang out of the country after being disturbed 

 a few times. I will look up my notes when I go to my room after 

 mess and give any dates. 



" I heard on pretty good authority, i. e. from one of the Jerez sherry- 

 growers, that in June 1879 the Flamingos were just beginning to 

 nest, and that some fellow had taken a lot of eggs. You see my 

 direct evidence is very small." 



From the above it would appear that the Flamingo is a more or 

 less permanent resident in the Marisma, and that its stay therein 

 and departure thence are regulated by the amount of rainfall and 

 the persecution it meets with. The question that naturally rises is, 

 whither do the immense numbers of Flamingos which frequent the 

 Marisma in the winter retire to breed when that district is too dry for 

 them ? This question I am unable to answer, and I should be most 

 happy to receive any information on the subject. On the disputed 

 question of the position of the bird on the nest, I am unable to say 

 any thing from personal experience; but I confess that I can see no 

 reason why the Flamingo should not sit in the same way as any 

 other bird '; and I must add that the story of the legs stretched out 

 behind, appears to me unnecessary, improbable, uncomfortable, and, 

 as far as I am at present aware, quite unsupported by trustworthy 

 evidence. 



June 15, 1880. 

 Professor W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



The Secretary made the following report on the additions to the 

 Society's Menagerie during May 1880: — 



The total number of registered additions to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie during the month of May was 199, of which 24 were by 

 birth, 94 by presentation, 68 by purchase, 1 received in exchange, 

 and 12 received on deposit. The total number of departures during 

 the same period, by death and removals, was 106. 



The most noticeable additions during the month were: — - 



1. Two side-striped Jackals (Canis lateralis), from Western 

 Africa. 



' Mr. Saunders has also expresijed his disbelief in the current "leg-story" 

 in print and privately. 



