158 ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL. 
CHILOE WIGEON. 
(Mareca sibilatrix. Mareca chiloensis). 
This charming little Duck, which we receive from Chiloe, 
an island of the South Pacific situated on the west coast of 
Patagonia, is one of the most beautiful species of its genus, 
and has for about fifty years been known in England. It 
was first acquired by the Zoological Society in 1831, birds 
collected in the Magellan Straits having been presented by 
Captain King on his return from surveying those regions. 
The birds purchased by the Zoological Society have bred 
regularly since 1871. Dr. Sclater states that this beautiful 
Duck was first described by the traveller and naturalist, Azara. 
It is very plentiful in the vicinity of Buenos Ayres, where 
numbers are sold in the market, but it is one of the wildest and 
scarcest birds in East Falkland; Captain Abbott was never 
able to procure a nest, but stated that young ones were seen 
during the month of January. The price asked for a couple 
of these birds I have known to vary from £3 10s. to £8. 
They are sufficiently hardy to bear the winter out of doors, 
provided there is enough shrubbery to protect them from the 
cold wind, which appears injurious to them. It is necessary at 
the same time to supply them with abundance of maize, and 
stimulating buck-wheat, and even a little raw meat pulled into 
strings. A very fine bird in my possession was found dead, 
choked, with the tail of a field mouse protruding from its bill, a 
fact affording proof that the bird craves for animal food. The 
Chiloe Wigeon is gentle and easily tamed, living peaceably in a 
mixed collection, which alone recommends it to the attention of 
amateurs. The male when excited will stretch his neck 
upwards, and swim about rapidly in this position, emitting a 
long drawn whistle. The plumage of one-year-old birds is 
deficient in gloss and lustre, and it is a matter of some difficulty 
