whole time on land, devoting the morning and evening to the procuration of food, but reposing during the heat of the day and throughout the night. It is seldom seen in company with other species; indeed, its disposition is even more quarrelsome and imperious than that of the Nile Goose. A pair of these birds, when placed among other water-fowl, begin in a very short time to assume unlimited authority, and their behaviour becomes (especially during the breeding season) absolutely insupportable. Nevertheless, they soon learn to recognise their keepers, to whom they exhibit considerable attachment. In New Holland they would long ago have been numbered among the inhabitants of every farmyard had it not been for this unbearable conduct. Such as have been brought to Europe have again and again hatched and reared a numerous progeny, so that with us they might readily be acclimatised. One principal obstacle to their breeding in the north is the contrariety of the seasons. In Australia they breed in the spring, which, of course, corresponds with our autumn; so that in the northern hemisphere, the young brood, becoming at once exposed to the rigours of winter, not unfrequently perish. We have, however, already learnt that those birds that have lost their eggs breed again in February, hence in the succeeding months there is every reason to suppose the young may be reared without difficulty. During pairing time the affection of the sexes towards each other is unmistakable. The Gander walks around his mate with graceful salutations, keeps vigilant watch over her safety, and resolutely drives away all other intruders, great and small, that may happen to approach the domain which he has selected. The care of constructing the nest appears to devolve upon the female, who always selects the best materials within her reach; and, although the result of her labours is not an artistically-constructed cradle, it is considerably more so than the nests of the generality of Geese, its interior being smoothly rounded and comfortably lined with feathers. The eggs are comparatively small, somewhat round in shape, smooth-shelled, and of a yellowish white colour. From observations made in Paris we found the duration of incubation to extend over thirty days; in a colder climate it is somewhat longer. In the park of our friend, M. Cornèly, in Belgium, thirty-eight days elapsed before the young escaped from their shell. On the very day of their escape they ran after their mother, picking up food from among the grass. They refused to eat hard-boiled eggs, chopped earthworms, and other kinds of animal food, and would not even touch white bread, confining themselves exclusively, as it appeared, to green vegetables. No sooner are the young hatched than the pugnacity of the Gander displays itself in full force; he seems to fear nothing, and attacks a man with as much animosity as he exhibits towards every other animal that intrudes upon his privacy. "I considered my Gander bad enough