S-a'aii-(.iccsc. 
257 
" hcniuifiil claret colour .... Certain features in lliis rej.;i()n, thouj;h 
" few actual species, are of course shared in common with the rest of 
" Australia : the prevalent luic;'.I\ pti. the 1 1 oiiey-eaters and Parrots, etc." 
1 have, from space exi.Ljeiicie.s, purpo.sely refrained from 
i^'iviiit;- more than the barest indications of the nature of tlie 
country and scenery, and thou.i^h tlie l)ird notes of tliese two 
sections of tlie book are very few, I trust that as a wliole, they 
m-iv interest our readers as much as they did myself. 
<-M-^ 
Swan-Geese. 
Reijrinted from Country Life, October 36th. I9I<S, with apologies and best 
thanks.— Ed., ]'..N. 
" Sir, — Three years ayo, on the river Kehin, wiiieh at this point 
" forms the boundary between the City of (il.asgow ;ind Dumbartonshire, 
" a Lilack Australian Swan (Cyiiims iiiisfra'is) mated with a Canadian (loose 
" (Bcrnicia canadensis). \ tine healthy h)lirid was produced, ;ind this 
" bird is at present preserved in the Zoo at Edinburgh, where it has been a 
" source of much interest to ornithologists and otliers. The following 
" year the same birds mated again ; the eggs this time were collected, as it 
" was feared tliat they might be destroyed by rats, and under a hen one 
" hybrid w^as hatclied out and that also went to the Zoo. The mother, 
" after her first clutch of eggs had been taken from her, laid again and 
" reared four hybrids as a second brood. During the following winter 
" two of these hybrids were despatched to I'.dinburgh. In July of this 
" year it was noticed one day that instead of two hyl)rids wont to be seen 
" on the river, three were swimming about together. Enquiry was made 
" of the Zoo authorities in Edinburgh, and it was ascertained that two of 
" their birds had escaped when they were attenii)ting to catch them in order 
" to clip their wings. One was recovered from a neighbouring farm, the 
'■ other flew home, a distance of about fifty miles, and took up its residence 
" on the home river just as if it had never been away, I think your 
" readers may lie interested to hear about the fact^, mentioned above, for 
" surely such a homing instinct in a bird half ;i swan and half a goose, 
, '' in itself a great rarity, is very interesting. If any of your readers who 
" may have heard or had an experience of a similar occurrence would make 
" it known through your correspondence columns, it would be of great 
" interest.— G.I. C." 
