CASAIiCA. "I 



From Cobbonih Station, Cobliora, New South Wales, Mr. Thos. P. .\iistin wrote:- " ( )n 

 Barwon Park Station, near Winclielsea, \'ictoria, the Mountain Ducis (Casiii-in tadonioidcs ) was 

 to be seen on the brackish and salt kikes at all times of the year, but never in very lar;^'e numbers. 

 Althoui^h not looked upon as a suital)le bird lor the table, consequently never shot at, they were 

 always very wild, in fact the wildest of all the l)ucks. .\ few pairs bred on this station es'ery 

 year, as I always saw young birds about, often just hatched, but it was a puzzle to me where they 

 had their nests; I never found one or heard of one beiuL; found. The only trees about were a few 

 Ked Gums aloni; the kJarwon Piver. It was a most unusual thing to see any of these Ducks 

 at fresh water." 



L)r. W". Mac^^illivray, while resident at Hamilton, in the Western District of Victoria, 

 wrote me as follows : — " Of the Axatin.+; found here Ctisnirn tadoi'iioidts is the earliest breeder, 

 eggs being obtainable in July and early in August. This species is usually seen in pairs, but I 

 once counted forty in a flock on a swamp on tlie Murndal Estate. It is very wary, leaving a 

 swamp or lai;oon when the first shot is tired and not returning again ; most other Ducks will 

 circle round and round and alight more than once before becoming thorouf.;hly alarmed." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland sends me tlie following notes from Melbourne, \'ictoria : — " Tiie 

 SUMra-ke (Cdsai'Lti tadoi'iioidis J is found all over the .Vustralian continent. 1 have shot these 

 birds in Southern X'ictoria and in North-western Australia, but the Western District of Victoria 

 and the swamps in the vicinity of the Murray River, appear to be their favourite haunts. Except 

 when the young ones are with their parents they are usually found in pairs. They breed in 

 hollow branches, preference being given to trees overhanging water. When the brood is 

 hatched the old bird swims under the nest and calls the little ones, which jump down into the 

 water, flapping their little wings and working their feet as they drop. As soon as they are all 

 dow.i the old bird swims away to a nice landing place. Their flesh is somewhat coarse, although 

 they are grass feeders." 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay remarks: — "Mr. Whittell informs me he found the nest oi C a suii a 

 ^i7(/or;;ii/(/('s placed on the ground behind amass of Polygonum bushes; it was made with grass 

 and debris with a few sticks; tlie eggs were eight in number, and co\ered over with the grass 

 lining of the nest. I have never taken the eggs of this bird myself, but Mr. P. Faithful informed 

 me of a nest similarly placed on the banks of a creek on his estate near Goulburn." Gould states 

 that " in South Australia it breeds annually at Gawler, on all the alluvial llats abounding in that 

 district ; it is also said to deposit its eggs in the hollow spouts and boles of the lofty Gum-trees." 

 Mr. S. F. Mann informs me that near Caramut, in South-western \'ictoria, it breeds freely, 

 resorting to holes in the hollow branches of trees, and I have seen eggs taken in the same part 

 of \'ictoria from a nesting-place in a hollow stump standing in the water. 



The eggs are usually ten to fourteen in number for a sitting, oval or rounded-oval in form, 

 of a pale creamy-white, the shell being close-grained and its surlace lustrous. Two eggs in the 

 Australian Museum Collection, taken by Mr. .\. E. Brent at the Macquarie River, Tasmania, 

 on the loth August, 1892, measure as follows; — Length (.A) 2-6S x 1-93 inches; (B) 27 x 

 1-96 inches ; the latter specimen is represented on Plate B. X\TI., figure 2. A set of ten eggs 

 in Mr. Thos. P. .Austin's collection, taken at Leongatha, South Gippsland, \'ictoria, on the 19th 

 August, 1906, measure as follows : — Length (.A) 274 x i-97 inches; (B) 2-78 x i-gi inches; 

 (C) 2-63 X 1-99 inches; (D) 2-65 x 2 inches; (E) 2-45 x 1-83 inches; (F) 2-82 x 1-98 inches; 

 (G) 272 X 1-93 inches; (H) 2-6 x 1-97 inches ; (I) 27 x i-gSinches; (J) 2-07 x 1-98 inches; 

 (K) 273 X 1-87 inches. ., ... ■ . • 



Mr. S. F. Mann, of Western X'ictoria, forwarded a set of eight eggs to the Trustees of the 

 Australian Museum, and wrote : — "These eggs were tak-en by Mr. W. A. Armstrong on the 

 yth October, 1904, on his property at He.xham Park, Hexham, Western Victoria; I am 



