Kingsley. — Notes on Birds. 107 



Akt. XII. — Notes on Birds. 

 By E. I. Kingsley. 



[Read before the Nelson Philosophical Society, 28th March, 1892.] 



The splendid specimen of the genus Anas which I exhibit, 

 and have purchased for the Nelson Museum, was shot by a 

 Mr. Harvey in Happy Valley, near Nelson, and sent by him 

 to Mr. Hale, poulterer and gamedealer, where it excited some 

 degree of curiosity as to its species. My attention was drawn 

 to it, and I expressed an opinion that it was a hybrid ; 

 but several old colonists affirmed that it was a distinct species, 

 and had been seen at rare intervals before. 



I purchased the bird and had it mounted, and afterwards 

 sent it to Sir Walter Buller for his opinion, who very kindly 

 examined it, and sent me the following written notes upon 

 it:— 



" This duck is undoubtedly a hybrid. The head is that of 

 the grey duck (Anas superciliosa) , although the markings are 

 somewhat indeterminate. The general plumage of the body 

 is a pale slaty-grey, the feathers of the upper parts, however, 

 having pale-brown margins. The wing- feathers and scapulars 

 are of lighter colour, being of a uniform French-grey with 

 dark shaft-lines, but without the dark margins. The median 

 wing -coverts are dull velvety- black, changing to grey, and 

 broadly tipped with white. There is a narrow speculum down 

 the centre, one of the coverts having an exterior border of 

 metallic-green. The smaller wing-coverts display a conspicuous 

 band of white, forming an upper alar bar. The upper tail- 

 coverts are margined with dusky-brown, and the tail-feathers — 

 but very narrowly — with a clearer brown. The whole of the 

 lower fore-neck and the crop have a chestnut-brown hue, each 

 feather, however, being warmly edged with light-grey, which 

 character is more pronounced on the sides of the body and 

 flanks, where the feathers have their w r ebs freckled and venni- 

 culated with grey. The under tail-coverts are darker, and 

 have dull chestnut-brown margins. The bill is blackish-brown, 

 the upper mandible with a black nail and the lower largely 

 marked on its central portions with yellow. 



" This bird is either a cross between the grey duck (Anas 

 superciliosa) and the blue mountain-duck (Hymcnolamus 

 malacorhynchus), or between our domestic duck and the former. 

 The slaty ground-colour and the reddish tinge on the breast 

 and under tail-coverts would favour the former view ; but the 

 large size of the bird and the character of the bill and legs 

 would support the latter supposition, which is probably the 

 correct one." 



