182 DENDROCYGNA EYTONI 



Damage. There is no mention in the literature of any damage done by these 

 birds, though they may at times cause detriment to fields of grain. 



Food Value. Early writers invariably described this duck as excellent for the 

 table, and it is still thought by some to surpass all other Australian ducks in flavor 

 (North, 1913). 



Behavior in Captivity. The Plumed Whistling Duck is rare in European and 

 American collections and for some reason has never been imported in any numbers. 

 It was, however, represented in the Knowsley Collection, the property of the Earl of 

 Derby, which was sold in 1851. The London Zoological Gardens had specimens in 

 1838 (Eyton, 1838) and also received two specimens in 1867, which were still living six- 

 teen years after (in 1883). In England, specimens sell at prices varying from £8 to £10 

 per pair (Hubbard, 1907). In the United States the species has rarely been imported, 

 and has only recently been represented in the New York and Washington gardens. 

 A number were brought over to this country in 1920 by Ellis S. Joseph and were 

 quoted at $75.00 per pair. I think these were the first ever seen alive in America. 



Mr. Blaauw told me that he kept them several times but that they never bred, and 

 so far as I know they have never done so in confinement anywhere. Those I have 

 seen do not seem to care much about perching and keep strictly by themselves, even 

 disdaining the company of their immediate relatives. They have a very strange ap- 

 pearance with their great fans of flank plumes sticking up on each side. Seen from 

 the front when they are perching they look as if they were sitting in a kind of basket. 



Once while I was watching a couple of pairs at the Zoological Park in Washington 

 I noticed one walk across the aviary floor actually on the tips of its toes, holding 

 itself very erect and stiff and the head high up. The keeper told me he had seen them 

 do this before and it is possible that some such action may be part of the display. 

 It would be somewhat akin to what we see in the Egyptian Goose and in some of the 

 Antarctic Geese of South America. 



