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Show 450 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. [Julie 15, " Winchester, May 26th. " DEAR LORD LILFORD,- " Yours received this afternoon. I found no nests of the Flamingo when with Rudolf; this was on M a y 29th, 1879. W e rode many miles over the Guadalquivir marshes, and saw a flock of about 2000 birds. I found three eggs lying in the slob land about a mile from the river. The Spaniards swore that a ieve weeks before a man from San Lucar de Barrameda had taken about a thousand eggs. This, I am pretty sure, was a lie. From my own observations they appeared not to have begun to nest when we were there. They were in one immense flock, and flew bang out of the country after being disturbed a few times. I will look up m y notes when I go to m y room after mess and give any dates. " I heard on pretty good authority, i. e. from one of the Jerez sherry-growers, that in June 1879 the Flamingos were just beginning to nest, and that some fellow had taken a lot of eggs. You see my direct evidence is very small." From the above it would appear that the Flamingo is a more or less permanent resident in the Marisma, and that its stay therein and departure thence are regulated by the amount of rainfall and the persecution it meets with. The question that naturally rises is, whither do the immense numbers of Flamingos which frequent the Marisma in the winter retire to breed when that district is too dry for them 1 This question I am unable to answer, and I should be most happy to receive any information on the subject. On the disputed question of the position of the bird on the nest, I am unable to say any thing from personal experience; but I confess that I can see no reason why the Flamingo should not sit in the same way as any other bird *; and I must add that the story of the legs stretched out behind, appears to me unnecessary, improbable, uncomfortable, and, as far as I am at present aware, quite unsupported by trustworthy evidence. June 15, 1880. Professor W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Secretary made the following report on the additions to the Society's Menagerie during May 1880:- The total number of registered additions to the Society's Menagerie during the month of May was 199, of which 24 were by birth, 94 by presentation, 68 by purchase, 1 received in exchange, and 12 received on deposit. The total number of departures during the same period, by death and removals, was 106. The most noticeable additions during the month were:- 1. Two side-striped Jackals (Canis lateralis), from Western Africa. 1 Mr. Saunders has also expressed his disbelief in the current "leg-story" in print and privately. |