198 BIRDS AND MAN 



the Magellanic goose, one of the five or six 

 species of the Antarctic genus Chloephaga, found 

 in Patagonia and the Magellan Islands. One 

 peculiarity of this bird is that the sexes differ 

 in colouring, the male being mostly white, 

 whereas the prevailing colour of the female is 

 a ruddy brown, — a fine rich colour set off with 

 some white, grey, intense cinnamon, and beautiful 

 black mottlings. Seen on the wing the flock 

 presents a somewhat singular appearance, as of 

 two distinct species associating together, as we 

 may see when by chance gulls and rooks, or 

 sheldrakes and black scoters, mix in one flock. 



This fine bird has long been introduced into 

 this country, and as it breeds freely it promises 

 to become quite common. I can see it any day ; 

 but these exiles, pinioned and imprisoned in 

 parks, are not quite like the Magellanic geese 

 I was intimate with in former years, in Patagonia 

 and in the southern pampas of Buenos Ayres, 

 where they wintered every year in incredible 

 numbers, and were called " bustards " by the 

 natives. To see them again, as I have seen 

 them, by day and all day long in their thousands, 

 and to listen again by night to their wild cries. 



