460 APPExVDIX. 



gander most assiduously attended to and defended his partner, flying 

 at any one that approached her, and biiffetiug him with all his strength. 



Tame Goose, male, and Canada Goose, female, produced a brood of 

 three young at the Falls (Mr. Sinclaire's country-place), near Belfast. 

 These hybrids were coarse, ugly-looking birds, and their carriage that 

 of the tame goose, without any indication of the fine bold bearing 

 of the A. Canadensis, which, in colour, they resembled more than their 

 other parent. Their neck and head were of a pale " clove-brown," 

 wdicre those of A. Canadensis are black, and a mere lighter shade of 

 this colour on the sides of the head, took the place of the pure white 

 mark in this species. 



Swan Goose {Anser cy(jnoides), male, and Tame Goose, female, suc- 

 cessively for some years produced broods at Wolfhill, near Belfast. 

 The general appearance of these hybrids at once denoted their origin, 

 partaking, as it obviously did, of the characters of both parents. 



Bean Goose {Anser segetum), male, Canada Goose, female. — According 

 to Mr. E,. Ball, two hybrids, presumed from their appearance to have 

 •been so produced, were bred in the Zoological Gardens, Phoenix Park, 

 Dublin, in 1843. They are very handsome birds, and apparently 

 heavier than either parent ; in plumage liker the female than the male : 

 — of late (December 1850), they have become lighter-coloured in the 

 neck than formerly. The hybrids go about as if under sexual influence, 

 but do not take up with other species. The female parent paired two or 

 three times with the swan goose {A. cpgnokles), but there has been no 

 produce. 



Spur-io'mged Goose {A. Gambensis), male, and Egyptian Goose {A. 

 JEgyptiacus), female, have bred in the gardens of the Zoological So- 

 ciety, Phoenix Park, Dublin, as akeady mentioned by Yarrell. 



Slielldrake {A. vulpanser), male, and Common Tame Duck (A. boschas), 

 female. — A shelldrake, at the Palls, bred two or three seasons succes- 

 sively with a tame duck, in colour like a wild one, and it is believed 

 (though not now positively remembered) with the same individual each 

 season. Several young — very handsome birds — were produced in 

 each instance. Neither males nor females had a Avhite feather in their 

 plumage, but were of a uniform brownish colour, with a bronzed me- 

 tallic lustre ; the males deeper in tint than the females. They had a 

 fine erect carriage like the shelldrake. A pair of these hybrids, male 

 and female, were given to John Templeton, Esq., of Cranmore, near 



