68 ANATIN*. 



Two efjrjs from the abo\e nest are elliptical in form, tapering somewhat sharply to each end, 

 which are pointed and of equal size. They are of a pale creamy-white, and in the specimens 

 forwarded have li.^'ht reddish-purple markings on one end, appearing as if beneath the surface 

 of the shell ; these markings are abnormal, one specimen ha\ ing (jnly a few spots on one side. 

 Length (\) 2'og x 1-43 inches: (B) 2'i3 x 1-^2 inches. 



In a subseiiuent letter Mr. Barnard wrote me as follows: — "Nearly all the Whistling 

 Duck-'s eggs taken had mark-ings on one end, but most of those left in the nest were without 

 them. I do not thiiiK tlie markings are typical, but only the effect of the season, as I have 

 noticed the markings on butterllies and moths were darlcer and richer this past season than m 

 ordinary ones." 



A set of five eggs in the Australian Museum Collection, received with a skin of the parent 

 bird procured from a nest in the grass near the Daly River, in the Northern Territorv of South 

 Australia, on the 5th February, igo2, are more oval in form, of a creamy-white colour, the shell 

 being close grained, smooth and slightly lustrous, and are all more or less nest-stained; they 

 measure as follow : — Length (A) 2'02 x 1-51 inches; (B) 2 x 1-5 inches; (C) 2-04 < f5l 

 inches; (D) 2-07 x i-53mches; (E) 2-06 x 1-54 inches. Mr. fL G. Barnard also forwarded 

 me a set of four taken by him at Kedcliff, on the Upper Dawson River, Queensland, on the 5th 

 Noveniber, 1893. 



In the Nortliern Territory of South Australia the breeding season commences in the rainy 

 season, in the early months of the year, usually in February and March, and even in Queensland 

 it is probably intluenced by an early or late rainfall, for Mr. Barnard has found its eggs at 

 opposite seasons, in May and November. 



Dendrocygna eytoni. 



EYTOiN'S TKEE-DUOK. 



L'-jitnliirniti P7//t//n', Gould, M.8. ; Eyt., Mon. Anat, p. Ill (1838) ; Gould, Bds Austr , fol. Vol. VIT., 

 pi. l.'i (ISiS). 



Dinidriu-ijijun I'lilimi, Gould, Haiulbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. IT., p. .37r> (I860) : Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Miis., Vol. XXVII., p. IG.'i (1895) ; Sharp.-, H.iud-I. ISds,, Vol. I., p. 21.5 (1809). 



Adult malb. — (Teneray ciiliiar ahuoe In-nirii iftlh nn oHcf f:/iade, thf fcn/licrs af //(>• n/tpi'i- hack 

 anil siiiii'' of ihf. si'ii./inliirs riin!</itcni>iisli/ ni'i ri/'i m-il tvitli .^trii/r or ijrlli)iri-ili-ivhlte ; iviiuis like tin; back ; 

 ii.jipir liiil-i:iii'i'.i-lii ijilhiii-i^li huff] /•'icli /iiith'T /kiciiiij a niimdi''! s/mf nii, ni/Jifr ireb aitd a broad ti/i of 

 dark bro/rn. .■ mmj) and fad ijark brmru : croicn of fhc Iieail and Iiind-ni'ek jxdi: oclireous-brun'u, llie 

 nidi's (i/ ih". /ii'iid and iii'ck /iiiJ''r : throat dnJI irliili- ; J'ori'-nick pali' ocliri'oii-- broirn ; breast pale 

 ehesliiat broivn, Irnnsrerse/i/ barred, ivitii bhick, lohich is riclier in. colour, and more dislinctjij marked 

 at the sides ; abdomen and nnder l.ail-corerts pale bnff'i/-n'hile : Jetiijtlteued lanceolate /lank plumes 

 pale iielloivish-biiff, mariiini'd ivith black : bill pale /'eddis/i hroinn, tin- upper iniinddile conspicaousli/ 

 blotched with black ; leys and feet jleshiphroivn ; ins dark bnnvn. Total leni/t/i in the jlesli IS inche.s, 

 iving 9'o, tail S'd, bill 17, tarsus :i-1 . 



Adult fkmalk. — Similar m plumai/e to the male, 



Diitribution. — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South .\ustralia, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia. 



^T^flE range of Eyton's Tree-Duck e.\tends throughout the Australian States, but it is 



-L more sparingly distributed in the southern pi^rtionsof the continent. After an abundant 



rainfall it is unusually plentiful on the Barwon, Warrego and Culgoa Ri\'ers, in North- 



