ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL. 7t 
answering to the English autumn, a circumstance which would 
militate against their successful breeding in this country, were 
it not for the second batch of eggs which they would probably 
produce in the early part of the year. Dr. Brehm states that 
the female alone constructs the nest, and that it is superior 
in point of finish to that of the Common Goose, being round 
and neatly lined with feathers. He also relates that the young 
birds emerged from the shell on the thirty-eighth day, and ran 
after the mother, picking up their food from the grass, refusing 
to eat eggs, bread, or earth worms, and preferring green 
vegetables. Dr. Brehm conjectures that the period of incu- 
bation varies somewhat with the climate, and that a month may 
be reckoned the usual time. 
The traveller, Labillabitre, says the first specimens he 
saw in Australia were so tame that they allowed themselves to 
be taken in the hand, but became wilder. The Comte de 
Montlezun tells me that these birds used to be reared in large 
numbers in the farms of New Holland, the flesh being 
appreciated; but this was gradually discontinued, as their 
savage character proved them unfit to associate with other birds. 
But although these birds are considered by most amateurs 
to be very quarrelsome, I found them on the whole less 
pugnacious than the Egyptian Goose, nevertheless they appear 
capable of forming very strong dislikes to individuals ; at which 
time they would pursue the object of their antipathy, seizing the 
clothing in their strong curved bill, and administering rapid 
cutting blows with their long powerful wings. The Ceveopsis in 
my collection appeared to feel cold winds very acutely, suffering 
more from them than during a still frost. It is necessary on 
this account to create shelters, behind which the birds may run, 
composed of hurdles covered with straw or felt. Cereopsts graze 
persistently and will soon eat every blade of grass in their 
