ZOOLOGICAL 
kept in smaller enclosures, where grass and wa- 
ter were to be had in abundance, with equally 
discouraging results. 
Mr. A. W. Whealton, of Chincoteague, Vir- 
ginia, has experimented for many years with 
the greater snow goose, (Chen hyperborea ni- 
valis) but his success has been only partial. 
Pairs of birds have nested and laid but the 
young were never reared. Snow geese mated 
with domestic geese of the white variety known 
as the Emden have brought up young and the 
hybrids have been paired with the pure snow 
gander with perfect success. Many of the birds 
containing a touch of the domestic blood are 
practically, indistinguishable from the snow 
goose, and breed regularly. Mr. Whealton hopes 
eventually to produce a goose which will be 
identical to the snow goose, but it is doubtful 
if the taint can ever be eradicated. 
Yet in Europe the problem appears to pre- 
sent no such insurmountable difficulties. In 
England alone, blue, snow and Hutchins geese 
have been bred and it is probable that others 
have reared young on the Continent, particular- 
ly in Holland. In 1912, a pair of snow geese 
occupied a tiny paddock in the Zoological Gar- 
dens of London, and with them in December 
were three lusty goslings, which they had reared 
under seemingly impossible conditions. Hybrids 
between the blue and snow, of great zoological 
interest, have been produced repeatedly. 
There seems but one solution of the mystery. 
It is unlikely that local weather and conditions 
have any great effect. The larger enclosures 
and greater freedom that captive geese in this 
country have enjoyed without result, would 
more than compensate for greater clemency in 
the weather of western Europe, if it exists. But 
game propagation in England greatly ante- 
dates the work in this country. More deter- 
mined attempts, over a greater period of time, 
have produced results by sheer force of endea- 
vor. Once any species was induced to breed, 
the young were carefully preserved, with the 
certainty that when they reached maturity they 
would nest much more readily than their par- 
ents. Thus strains of breeding birds were es- 
tablished, and there is no doubt of the existence 
of such families in Europe today. 
Apparently no American game breeder has 
attempted to make use of this obvious means for 
establishing the birds in captivity in this coun- 
try. Importation of judiciously selected birds 
from European breeders would give us a stock 
of captivity bred geese, which from a small be- 
ginning, should quickly grow to greater things. 
SOCIETY 
BULLETIN 9 
But with the lesser snow goose, a step has 
been made without resort to this means. Mr. 
H. J. Jager, of Owatonna, Minnesota, has 
bred from a pair of wing-tipped birds long in 
his possession. If this success can be duplicated 
in future years, it is probable that a line of 
breeding geese can be established, tracing its 
ancestry to this one foundational pair. 
Mr. Jager’s geese were originally wild birds, 
wing-tipped by gunners in the vicinity of this 
home. For seven years they had the run of a 
ten-acre field, with two ponds, without showing 
an inclination to breed. But in the eighth year, 
a nest was built and six eggs laid. Five of 
these eggs were placed under a domestic hen 
that hatched them all but reared only one. The 
one egg left to the parents was hatched and 
the gosling brought to maturity. 
When these geese attain breeding age, it will 
be possible to pair them with wild birds with 
every hope for suecess. If this can be accom- 
plished, continued propagation will bring about 
the survival of another of America’s hard- 
pressed game birds. 
TRRORICAL LADPOITEHS: 
By Joun Tee-Van. 
Artist, Tropical Research Station. 
ARTABO offers an excellent field for the 
K study of tadpoles and adult amphibians. 
Tadpoles are to be found in every suitable 
situation within the district; in the quiet side- 
pools of swift-running streams, in shallow jun- 
gle pools, in ponds swimming near the shore, 
and even in small, isolated, leaf-filled holes be- 
tween the roots of the bamboos surrounding the 
Station. A few have been found along the shore 
of the river, probably accidental stragglers 
from some stream. 
Their coloration varies considerably. Some 
are uniformly bluish-black, with no distinct pat- 
tern or shading. The most common colors are 
varying shades of dark green and brown. One 
species, whose life-history is now being worked 
upon, is strikingly different from all others I 
have ever seen. The front portion of the body 
is brilliant yellow tinged in places with dull 
orange. There is a black mark between the 
nostrils and two black spots near the eyes. The 
posterior portion of the body is black, changing 
into deep shining blue, whenever light shines 
upon it. The transitional stages in the life of 
these tadpoles have not been completed; in other 
