Triplet, P.

Trolliet, B.

Tréca, Bernard

Yésou, P.

Horizon / Pleins textes

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i 
. .- .. 
9 fa? 3 Malimbus 15 ( 2 -. Short Notes e 94 
tlie rest of the body was whiter. A second sighting of an albino Spur-winged Goose with d 
the same description was made on 17 January 1993 at a fadama pond near Damasa, 
about 9 km NW of the location of the previous sighting. About 500 other normal 
conspecifics and about 3000 Garganeys Bias qse,guedula were in the same pond. A 
game guard in the wetlands made similar observations in 1987 and 1993 while 
patrolling an area near Nguru lake, about 36 km NW of Damasa (H. Hassan pers. 
CO".). It is not known whether these records were of the same individual. 
Although albinism is not unusual in birds, there is not, to my knowledge, any report 
of its occurrence in Spur-winged Geese. 
Received 19 February 1993 
Revised 25 June 1993 I 
Augustine U. Ezealor 
Dept of Biological Sciences, 
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 
On the laying period of the Egyptian Goose Abpocheri aegypliacus in the delta of 
the River Senegal 
Brown et al. (1983) indicate that the laying period in Senegal of the Egyptian Goose 
Alopocheri aegypfiacus extends from July to October, i.e. over the rainy season. 
However, in early 1993, we observed six different broods of this species, all in the delta 
of the River Senegal: a pair with one duckling about one week old on 18 January 
(Senegal); an adult with nine juveniles about tllreequarters of the size of the adult on 17 
January (Senegal); a pair with six juveniles about one third the size of the adults on 30 
March (Senegal); a pair with four juveniles about half the size of adults on 22 January 
(Mauritania); a pair with four juveniles about half to two-thirds the size of the adults on 
22 January (Mauritania); a pair with five juveniles about two-thirds the size of the 
adults on 24 January (Mauritania). 
Assuming an incubation period of 28-30 days and a fledging period of 75-80 days 
(Brown et al. 1983), the laying dates of Uie January observations ranged from early 
October to around 10 December, and for the March observation the beginning of 
Februíuy. 
Similar observations outside the period defined by Brown et al. (1983) have 
previously been made by Jany (in Morel & Morel 1990) who discovered two nests in 
the Djoudj National Park in January 1975 while Dupuy (1976) and Roux et al. (1977) 
report families respectively from October to February and from 15 October to 15 
February and till May, which indicate laying in February. We therefore conclude that 
the laying period is not limited to July-October but can continue until January or 
-_ J e b q ,  particdrly when aquatic resources arenot limited. With the artificial flood 
due to the Diama Dam, it is dssible that the Egyptian Goose is now able to breed 
- during a longer period than formerly. I 
Sliort Notes 1993 
References 
BROWN, L. , URBAN, E.K. & NEWMAN, K. (1983) The 
Academic Press. London. 
95 
irds of Africa, vol. 1. 
DUPUY, A.R. (1976)DonnBes nouvelles concernant la reproduction de quelques e w e s  
MOREL, G.J. & MOREL, M.-Y. (1990) Les Oiseau de Sénégambie. ORSTOM, Paris. 
' 
Roux, F., JARRY, G., MAHEO, R. & TAMISIER, A. (1977) Importance et origine des 
populations d'anatides hivernant dans le delta du Senegal. Oisearr Rev. fr. Orti. 47: 
aviennes au Senegal. Oiseau Rev. fr. Orti. 46: 47-62. 
1-24. 
Received 2 1 May 1993 
Revised 24 August 1993 
P. Triplet', B. Trollietl, P. Y&ou' & B. Treta* 
'ONCCNERA Avifaune Migratrice, F-85340 Ile d'olonne, France 
'ORSTOM, BP 1386, Dakar, Senegal 
A long-lived Common Bubul P~iioirotus barbatus in Nigeria 
Keith el al. (1992) quote an 18 year-old individual from Chad as the longest-lived 
Common Bulbul Pycnoriotiis barbafirs in the wild. As this record has not been 
published, details ought to be put on record. 
The bird concerned was ringed (British Trust for Ornithology ring no. CR40257) at 
Mallamfatori, Lake Chad (Nigeria) (13"37'N, 13'20'E) on 27 August 1968 and 
retrapped on 27 September. It was recaptured and released on 4 February 1987 
(information kindly supplied by the'B.T.0). It was half way through active primary 
moult in August and September 1968, and was most probably already adult (juvenile 
birds had only a partial moult at that time). This species breeds in the area mainly from 
March to May (pers. obs.), before the rains. This would mean that it hatched in the first 
half of 1967 or earlier, and was 19 years old when recaptured. From its wing length 
(101 mm) it was probably a male: the range for 38 non-juveniles (March-May) was 93- 
104 nun (mean 96.6), and the species shows fairly well-marked sexual dimorphism in 
size (Britton 1972; pers. obs.). 
The locality of the 1987 recapture was reported as Maiduguri, some 193 km from 
where the bird was ringed, but I am sure it would in fact have been at Mallamfatori, as 
the person who reported it gave his address as the Lake Chad Research Institute, which 
has a station there (though its postal box, and hence address, is in Maiduguri). 
As reported by Keith el al. (1992), there is an even older record for this species 
from a captive bird, and an increasing number of passerine species have produced 
comparable results in the wild. These figures need to be compared to the considerably 
shorter mean life expectancies quoted by these authors (1.4-2 years), but I believe the 


On the laying period of the Egyptian goose Alopochen aegyptiacus in the delta of the river Senegal

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