Sydney Porter—Notes from South America



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Falkland Islands. There are four species all closely related, two being

flightless and the other two being slightly lighter in colour and larger

winged and able to fly. They are a mottled slate grey and rather call

to mind an Eider. The birds derive their name from the velocity with

which they can move upon the surface of the water in a sort of half¬

running, half-flying motion. These birds have been greatly reduced in

their natural haunts owing to shooting by so-called scientists, who have

collected the skins for museums in America. It is to be hoped that some¬

thing will be done to save these birds, expecially the Falkland Island

species which come under British jurisdiction. In with the Steamer

Ducks was a female of the very rare Abyssinian Blue-winged Goose.

I understood that there was originally a pair but the cock died. I

should imagine it would, if confined to such close quarters.


The South American Geese were, strange to say, very poorly

represented, I only saw pairs of the well-known Magellan Geese,

but as most of these birds were also confined to small aviaries they did

not appear to be in good condition. This seemed a great pity as these

birds could quite easily have been kept at liberty as were a large number

of Egyptian Geese.


There was one specimen of the African Spur-winged Goose. This

bird was in a large enclosure with a good many very fine Pelicans all

in the most perfect condition, and also a host of other birds including

a flock of Maguari Storks, a well-known South American bird, looking

like a very large edition of the familiar European Stork. These birds,

I understand, are very voracious, and it would be impossible to have them

at liberty where young birds were reared. There were also pairs of the

well-known American Jabiru, a huge Stork-like bird which brings to

mind the better known Marabout. The entire plumage of these giant

birds is snow-white, but the naked head and parts of the neck are black,

and below this are two scarlet bands. The birds were kept in rather a

small and very derelict aviary. There were also specimens of the Wood

Ibis, another Stork-like bird, but which is in no way related to the

Ibis. I was familiar with a very closely allied species in Rhodesia.


I noted many kinds of Ibis in the aviaries, especially noticeable

was the fine Black-faced Ibis, one of the largest and finest coloured of

the whole family and a bird which is common in the Argentine. There



