CHILIAN WIDGEON 
209 
found in the Buenos Aires Market, or at least it used to be in the past (H. Burmeister, 
1872). Crawshay (1907) says that when flushed the Widgeon usually makes a detour 
and comes back overhead, sometimes again and again, often so high as to be quite 
out of gunshot. They flush wider than the Pintails, who, however, quickly follow 
their example (Peters, MS.). 
Behavior in Captivity. So far as I know the Chiloe Widgeon has never been 
bred in captivity in this country. It has been kept in the New York Zoological 
Gardens and the price in America has been about $9.00 each. It was commonly 
kept in collections of water-fowl before the War but now it does not seem to come 
to our bird markets. After careful enquiries in Buenos Aires in 1920, J. L. Peters 
failed to find any one who was dealing in live water-fowl. 
The species seems to have been first introduced into England in 1870, when the 
London Gardens received specimens from Chile. These began to breed the following 
year and continued to do so almost every year thereafter. The dates of hatching are 
mostly for late May and the first half of June (P. L. Sclater, 1880), and the reversed 
seasons did not disturb them in the least. Among amateur aviculturalists who have 
bred this species in England may be mentioned Miss Hubbard (1907), Mr. Wormald 
and Earl Grey of Falloden (in litt.). The earliest date of nesting in England is 
April 27, which is neither very early nor very late. 
On the Continent this duck seems to have been introduced in the late seventies, 
and it evidently became very popular. M. Courtois (1880) bred them in France, 
two of his pairs laying forty -four eggs, of which twenty-two hatched. In 1881, 
M. Gourraud (1881) succeeded in breeding them and in 1884 M. Montlezun (1884) 
had a female incubating. She began to lay on May 11 and deposited an egg every 
other day. On May 28, 29, and 30 she remained on the eggs at night and began 
plucking feathers. Then she sat regularly, leaving only three times a day. She was 
finally disturbed by some Mandarin Ducks which broke the eggs after she had 
left. The species also bred in the Gardens at Tours in 1884 (Noenty, 1884) and 
Rogeron (1903) seems to have been raising them regularly in more recent years. In 
1922, Monsieur J. Delacour succeeded in raising nineteen ducks from twenty -three 
eggs, a really remarkable performance. 
In Berlin a number of specimens were kept in the Zoological Gardens, but ap- 
parently no young have been reared. Most of the birds there appear to mate with 
other species, and one pair that had mated produced about twenty-two eggs in 
eleven days each year, but these proved infertile (Heinroth, 1911). 
On the whole the Chiloe Widgeon is a very desirable bird because of its great 
ornamental value, its vivacity and good temper. It is as hardy as most ducks for 
thirty-seven specimens in the London Gardens averaged four years, the maximum 
being over fifteen years (P. C. Mitchell, 1911). They are fond of greens and are said 
