NEW ZEALAND or PARADISE SHELDRAKE 257 



all others, Sheldrakes, White-fronted, Barnacle, Chinese and Magellanic Geese in 

 "great order." Hubbard's pair attacked and almost succeeded in drowning a full- 

 grown Canada Goose, both male and female jumping on his back and forcing him 

 under water. Curiously enough, they are usually quite harmless among Teal and 

 smaller ducks, and treat them with utter indifference and disdain. 



In their native island they are said to be easily reared and tamed, and they stay 

 about the poultry -yard until the following spring, when they fly away, unless pin- 

 ioned (Potts, 1870). 



Any one who is particularly interested in the psychology of the sexes in this species 

 should refer to the long and detailed account which that veteran aviculturalist 

 Rogeron has left us (Bull. Soc. d'Acclimat., Paris, ser. 4, vol. 2, p. 151-173, 1885). 

 It is impossible to much more than mention it here. The first pair which he ob- 

 tained never mated. They were kept at night in a small house with thirty small 

 ducks and never did them any harm. They made intimate friends with a Bewick's 

 Swan, following this unfortunate bird around all the time. During the second 

 spring the female devoted all her attention to the swan and tried in every way to 

 induce him to mate. This behavior finally aroused the male, who became furious 

 and worried and chased the swan continually, though he did not actually fight with 

 him. This little incident is interesting as showing the roundabout methods em- 

 ployed by the female to arouse the jealousy of the male, but in this case it did not 

 result in any actual mating of the pair. The next pair that Rogeron obtained was 

 tame and easily handled, like the first. The two birds were not quarrelsome except- 

 ing toward such as were regarded as rivals. When spring came they began to fight 

 with a pair of Ruddy Sheldrakes, who were utterly powerless against them. Several 

 times Rogeron saved the lives of the Ruddy Sheldrakes in the nick of time. The 

 female of this second pair laid the first egg on March 24 in a thicket of a hedge under 

 an earthen dish. She laid two more eggs there, a fourth in a different place and then 

 four more in the original nest. These eggs were set under hens, but only one egg 

 which hatched in twenty-nine days produced a viable duckling. This single young 

 one was raised almost entirely on bread crumbled into milk, water lentils and a little 

 corn. It did not care for worms or ant larvse, and the taste for milk continued until 

 the bird was almost full grown. After the pairing season the Paradise Ducks lived 

 in perfect harmony with the Ruddy Sheldrakes. 



A remarkable example of the homing instinct, and comparable to the sort of thing 

 that is sometimes seen in dogs, was quoted by Buller. A tame, pinioned bird was 

 kept at a certain farm. After a time its mistress moved away and carried the bird 

 with her in a basket. The journey was ninety-five miles by rail and about ten more 

 by coach. By and by the duck disappeared from its new home and was looked upon 

 as lost. Some time later its mistress returned to her old home and found to her 

 astonishment that the pet Sheldrake had returned before her and settled down in its 



