282 
Afy Pond ami Its Occupants. 
weeds, their lon^ and wide spreading feet enabling them to 
negotiate these without difficulty. Now and then a large 
trout will suck down a fly, with that loud " plop "' so dear 
to the fly-fisher's ear. Swallows, and Martins skim the sur- 
face of the water, taking many a fly that would otherwise fall 
a victim to the hungry trout. If one waits late enough a big 
Barn Owl (Strix f/ammea) will probably glide by on noiseless 
wings seeking for some unsuspecting water-rat or vole, or 
its more active cousin the Tawny Owl {Syni'iiin aliico) may 
be seen to catch one of the numerous Bats, that are now flit- 
ting over the water. 
In an adjoining j)addock, which has been divided into 
four enclosures, in each of which is a small pond, supplied 
from the large pond or from the overflow from the aviaries, 
the Geese are now calling. I have here Magellan or I'pland 
{Chloephaga magcUanica) , and Egyptian Geese {Chcnalopex 
aegyptiacus) , White-fronted {Dendrocycna vicliinta), and Ful- 
vous (D. fulva) Tree-Ducks, Chilian VVigeon and Carolina 
Ducks {/Ex spo/isa). Tlie only birds of this group thai have 
nes^ted this year were one pair of Magellan Geese. Unfor- 
tunatcl) the pony, a mischievous little wretch, opened the gate 
of the enclosure and pawed the nest to fragments, just as the 
eggs were about to hatch, tool It was very disappointing, 
as thi:- is the second failure I have had witli them. Both 
buds of this pair have one leg broken, and, as it set at 
almost right-angles to the body, it gave the birds a weird 
appearance, and made it very surprising, to me, that the eggs 
should have proved fertile. 
As 1 wander slowly back to the house, the hoar-^e calls 
of tht Moorhens, together with the quackmgs and gabblings 
of the Ducks and Geese, carry my mind back to the many 
happy days I spent, many years ago, camping on die ohores 
of a much larger pond out in the "Golden West." 
V 
Breeding the Sharp- tailed Finch. 
U roLonchus acuticauda. 
By R. Sugg ITT. 
No record of the breeding of the Sharp-tailed finch 
appearb to have been written, but the fact that it has been 
one of the commonest of aviary birds for a greai number of 
