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Seton Gordon—Grey Lag Geese



GREY LAG GEESE


By Seton Gordon


In April, 1933, my wife and I were presented with a pair of Grey Lag

Geese which had been netted.


When they first arrived the birds, which had had their wings cut,

were very wild, and both escaped from their enclosure. One was

found and returned to us, the other, although we had reports of it

from an island several miles away, was not seen again by us.


We made a grassy run for the surviving Goose, and in a couple

of months it became tame. At the end of the summer it was allowed

its liberty, and used to return each night to its shelter. By this time

its wings had grown, and we decided that, as it had lost its mate, we

would not attempt to keep it longer. In October the wild Geese arrived

on the windswept heights of northern Skye, and flew over our house,

calling, several times a day. For the first few days our Goose went

off with the wanderers during the day, but returned at night to us.

Then one day it was missing at nightfall from its usual quarters, and

we knew that it had joined the wild geese and had entered into that

fuller life for which it had doubtless longed.


[We are very grateful to Mr. Seton Gordon for sending us these

notes. They are particularly interesting because the writer, in

addition to being a first-class ornithologist, has a literary style of

rare perfection.— Editor.]



THE HAND REARING OF THE KING AND

PENNANT PARRAKEET


By A. Martin


On taking over the management of Mrs. Dunn’s collection of foreign

birds at The Nash, Kempsey, I found a fine pair of the King Parrakeet.

I was informed that during last summer two clutches of eggs had

been laid, but that the hen always deserted the eggs when on the

point of hatching. This year I gave them a new enclosure, with

several nesting logs, and hoped for better results. However, they



