Correspondence



13



a beastly, hot, ugly, flat plain, with enormous but dirty rivers, the

Waders are in millions. You see all the time big flocks of Egrets, Scarlet

Ibises, Storks, and Herons of all sorts, etc. Tree Ducks are abundant,

and every hundred yards a pair of Orinoco Geese can be seen on the

banks, which are covered with huge alligators and caimans. But I shall

give you a better account viva voce. I brought from the Apure, on a

Ford lorry, a nice collection of animals and birds, either given to me

or caught by my man. A young tame tiger cat, a pair of young tame

Capybaras (!), and a mother silver-grey Agouti (a rare species) with her

son (absolutelv tame), a pair of young Snake Birds ( Anhingas ), four

Rosy-billed Tree Ducks, three Orinoco Geese, some Curassows and

Guans, two little Blue Hens, a Sun Bittern, some Macaws and Parrots,

Parrakeets, some Calliste, twenty Paroaria nigrigenis, that you

can only find on the Apure and Orinoco, some Troupials, a King

Vulture. I had some beautiful Herons, but they died on the journey,

which is really terrible, as you have to cross 500 km. of plain, without

roads !


I have here an excellent collection of Tanagers, eight species which

have never been seen in Europe, quite a number of small birds—and

a delicious little Rail, a miniature Moorhen, grey and black, not bigger

than a Sparrow, and quite tame. I caught a number of Jacanas, but

they don’t live. I have some Talpacoti and Scaly Doves, which are

very common here. You can imagine how difficult it is to carry all this

Zoo behind me, but I hope to get all these things in good health into

Europe in the spring.”


It is to be hoped that Monsieur Delacour will keep a diary, which

should be most interesting reading.


LONGEVITY OF THE JACKAL BUZZARD


Sirs, —Our old hen Jackal Buzzard, Buteo jackal, died here last week.

She has been here for seventeen years ; the pair coming from the

Zoological Gardens in 1904. She has laid regularly every year, but for

a good many years the eggs have been unfertile. She was in good

health till three days before she died. The cock bird is still alive, and

looks the picture of health.


Gerard H. Gurney.


Keswick Hall, Norfolk.



