NESTS AND i:GGS OF AUSTRALIAN JSlRbS. IciJ 



Sub-family — Plectropterin^. 



743. — Nettopus pulchellus, Gould. — (581) 

 GREEN GOOSE TEAL. 



Figure.— GonM : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 4. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvii., p. 67. 

 Previous Descriptions 0/ Kg^s. — Gould: Birds of Australia, (iS4S),also 

 Handbook, vol. ii., p. 358 (1S65). 



Geographical Distrilmtion. — North-west Australia, Northern Terri- 

 tory, and Nortlt Queensland; also New Guinea, Teniniber Islands, 

 Moluccas, and Celebes. 



JVesf. — Constructed of long dry grasses, the slight cavity for the 

 eggs being sometimes lined with feathers and down ; usually resting 

 upon the surface of the water among the herbage of a swamp or lagoon. 

 Possibly the eggs are occasionally deposited in hollow trees. 



Eijyx. — Clutch, eight to ten probably ; coloiu', whitish. Dimensions 

 in inches : 1-88 x 1-38 (Gould). 



Ohservations.- — Of these beautiful little Geese, hardl}' as large as a 

 Teal (hence the apt name. Goose Teal), there arc two species found in 

 Australia, chiefly in the northern portion. The Green Goose Teal 

 (X. pill I'll el ht!<) may be described as having neck, back, and wings of a 

 beautiful, deep, glossy -gi'een ; underneath surface white in general, with 

 aiTow-liead-hke markings of black on the flanks; eyes and legs dark- 

 brown, and bill greenish-grey; total length, about 13 inches. This 

 lovely Goose Teal is an intertropical species, being found not only in 

 the northern parts of Australia, but also in Austro-Malayan regions. 



During oiu' Cardwell encampment my companions (Messrs. A and F. 

 Coles) shot a brace of these neat little Geese in a placid lagoon, where 

 large, blue water-liUcs grew. They experienced much difficulty in 

 retrieving the specimens by having to swim through the tough, 

 interlacing coils of the water-Uly stems and leaves. Persons have been 

 drowned in such places, by getting entangled in these ready-made 

 vegetable ropes, when batlung or after game. 



In the Port Darwin district, Gilbert, on Janiiary 16th, first saw a 

 pair of these beautiful birds swimming on a f(uiet, secluded lake, shut 

 in on all sides by very high grass. The two birds he succeeded in 

 killing at one shot. On dissecting the female, Gilbert found a nearly- 

 developed egg in the ovarium, and was induced to search for the nest, 

 which lie found built up from the water in the long grass. The nest 

 had no lining, probably because tlie female had not commenced laying. 

 Subsequently, a nest brought in by the aborigines, containing six eggs, 



