STRANGE ZOO CASE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24492, 28 December 1940, Page 2

STRANGE ZOO CASE

COCK PHEASANT AND EGGS THE EMU'S EXAMPLE FOLLOWED Possibly following the example of its neighbour, the emu, a cock pheasant at the Auckland Zoo has taken over the task of hatching the family eggs. Silas, the zoo's adult male emu (states the New Zealand Herald) has become notorious for this unusual and unmanly practice, and the pheasant's action may be a remarkable case of emulation. At all events, for a cock pheasant to enter the brooding business is unprecedented, according to authorities on the subject. But this pheasant, an amherst aged two years, has not only gone into the business, but has gone in in a big way. It was not satisfied with the three eggs that its mate had laid, but filched seven more from adjacent nests. It may be that, instead of deliberately copying his neighbour, the male pheasant was bullied into these maternal duties by a designing mate who saw how things were arranged in the emu enclosure. That is unlikely, however, for male pheasants as a class are strict disciplinarians, and will not stand any foolishness from their mates. By carrying out a duty which its mate is perfectly capable of performing, the male pheasant at the zoo appears to reserve all questions of foolishness to itself.