1048 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BINDS. 



deserted nests respectively of a Wliite-fronted Herou aud a Straw- 

 necked Ibis. Auotlier mass of down, found upon tlie gi'ound in the nest 

 of a Black-tailed Native Hen (Tribonyx), also exliibited, is so much 

 lighter in colour' than the other two as to lead one to siippose it might 

 belong to another species of Duck. 



In the "Descriptive Catalogue" (No. 12) of that Institution, it is 

 stated : — 



" The Tinstees of the Australian Museum have lately received from 

 Mr. K. H. Bennett several nests of the Pink-eared Duck, taken at 

 YandembaJi dimng 1889; one of them is placed on the deserted nest 

 of Geronticus spiiiicul/is, which was buUt on the top of a Polygonum 

 bush, about eighteen inches above the water. The nest of G. spiiiicuUis 

 is a flat stractvu-e composed of thorny sticks and twigs interlaced through 

 one another, aud measures eighteen inches in width by five inches in 

 height. That of M. memhranaccus is elliptical in fonu, and is composed 

 entirely of down plucked tVom the breast of the parent bird, and measures 

 twelve inches in width by five inches in height. To another nest 



Mr. Bennett has attached the following note : — ' Taken at Yandembah, 

 26th August, 1889. The nest is placed on an old disiised nest of the 

 Trihunyx vcntralis, built on the lower dead horizontal stems of a Poly- 

 gonum bush about a foot above the water, and was screened from view 

 in a gi-eat measiu'e by the overhanging gi'een top of the bush. The eggs 

 were placed as now in tlie nest, and were completely covered by the 

 down.' 



" Mr. Bennett also records finding a nest of this species on 30th July, 

 in a shght hollow of a stump standing in tlie water, containing six eggs 

 enveloped as usual in a mass of down, and another on 12th September, 

 in the disused nest of Uorone australi.^, on the branches of a tree aboxit 

 twelve or foiu'teen feet above the water." 



The usual breeding season for the Pink-eared Duck in the soutlieni 

 part of the continent is from July or August tO' November. 



A Wai'anga correspondent of the Rushworth (Victoria) newspaper 

 is responsible for the story of an " attack '' by Widgeons : — " As I was 

 going by Gunn's Swamp I was siuprised at my hat being knocked off, 

 and I thought it was a Magpie, whose nest I had approached too closely, 

 but imagine my astonishment when I looked up and saw that a pair of 

 Widgeon were darting at me, and I could not drive them off, and as they 

 began to make my head pretty sore, I cleared out as fast as my horse 

 could carry me and left them in possession. I suppose I must have been 

 very close to theiriucst, but I never heard of Ducks doing the like before, 

 as they are usually very timid birds." 



