RADJAH SHELDRAKE 227 



Status. It is doubtful if it is holding its own in the more settled parts of Australia. 

 In North Australia at the mouth of the Little Archer River a flock of two hundred 

 was recently seen (H. L. White, Emu, vol. 16, p. 214, 1917). There is no reason to 

 suppose that the species is in any immediate danger. 



Enemies. Keartland (North, 1898) speaks of the natives raising havoc with the 

 eggs of these birds in northwestern Australia. 



Food Value. Hubbard (1907) remarks (on what authority I do not know) that 

 the flesh of this species is coarse and of an unpleasant flavor. 



Behavior in Captivity. Mr. F. E. Blaauw has written me that he first saw this 

 Sheldrake about 1886 at Monsieur Cornely's estate at Tours, France. They did not 

 live there very long and never bred. This striking bird was again imported into 

 Europe in the year 1901, when the Berlin Gardens received specimens, which were 

 considered to be the first of their kind to reach Europe alive (Heck, Verh. 5te Intern. 

 Zool. Congr. Berlin, p. 925, 1911). Hubbard (1907) states that a few pairs were 

 imported into England between 1900 and 1904, the price varying from £12 to £20. 

 The New York Zoological Park received a pair from Australia in the summer of 

 1922, apparently the first to reach America alive. It has never been bred in con- 

 finement. 



GEOGRAPHICAL RACES 



TADORNA RADJAH RUFITERGUM Hartert 



Synonymy 

 Tadorna radjah rufitergum Hartert, Novitates Zool., vol. 12, p. 205, 1905. 

 Tadorna rufitergum Mathews, Handlist Birds Australia, p. 35, 1908. 

 Tadorna radjah flindersi Mathews, Austral Avian Record, vol. 1, p. 86, 1912. 

 Radjah radjah rufitergum Mathews, List Birds Australia, p. 90, 1913. 



Characters: This race differs from the true Tadorna radjah radjah in its larger size and in be- 

 ing a richer chestnut color on the mantle and back. Wing 284 mm.; bill 46; tarsus 61. 



Distribution: Australia. 



