Strictly urban Hongkong is not usually thought of as a major centre for wildlife conservation, yet work of worldwide renown has been achieved there, especially with rare birds. One remarkable success in 1985 has recently been vindicated with the repatriation of the since-matured ducklings pictured. The extremely rare Southeast Asian WHITE-WINGED WOOD DUCK was bred by Hongkong government or nithologists - in one of the few such managed incubations anywhere. The bird is frustratingly reluctant to mate in captivity, or, indeed, in the wild, if habitat and circumstance are not exactly right. This aversion has led to its near demise, since its preferred fresh-water swampy forest have been extensively converted to cropland. The Hongkong clutch will be released in a sanctuary in Assam, at the western extremity of its natural range. The duck, a tree-peachier with claws, has virtually disappeared from Thailand and Malaysia and numbers are perilously low elsewhere.