90 FULIIiULlN.E. 



A set of seven were taken on the 14th October, 1903, from a nest built in a Poly<^onum 

 bush growing in the water in Goula Dam, near Marra Creek, and about forty miles from Nyngan, 

 on what was originally portion of Buckiinguy Station. The nest was about two feet from the 

 surface of the water, and it had a stairway to it like a Coot's nest. The eggs are thick ovals in 

 form, one inclining to an ellipse ; the shell is close-grained, smooth and highly lustrous, more so 

 than any other species of the Australian Akatin.i;, and are of a uniform pale creamy-brown. 

 Six eggs of this set measure: — Length (A) 2-4 x 1-85 inches; (B) 2-43 x 1-85 inches; (C) 

 2-42 X 1-77 inches; (D) 2-43 x r8 inches; (E) 2-42 x 1-3 inches; [V) 2'32 x i-8i inches. 

 Another set of seven was taken in the previous month. 



Sub-family FULIGULIN^. 

 Nyroca australis. 



WHITK-KYED DUCK. 

 A'ynicd ,ui!<tn(Hs, Uouk], M..S. ; Eyt, Moii. Anat, p. KjO (181S) ; Gould, Bds. Austr , fol. Vol, VIL, 

 pi. 16 (1.S4S); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. ;377 (ISr.o) ; Salvad,, Cat. Bds. ilrit. 

 Mus., Vol. \XVII., p. 350 (1895). 



Aylhya austral in, Sliarpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. 1., p. 222 (1899). 



Adult MALK. — (•emral culour above rich dark hroivn, tlir falJirrs of tin' hack iritli paler 

 marijiiis : ruinp ihirk hroivn. ; iijijicr lail-coverls and tuil-fcatliers like the hack: 'ri/((/s hroiru, the 

 iipper Jviuij-coverts icaslicd with olive ; three outer primaries brofvn, their inner ivehs inhitish, except 

 at the lips, the remaiiider wliite nyith dark broivn tips: across the secondaries a coiispicuoiis irhite 

 band, tlicir outer ivehs bronm at tlie tips with a ijreenish lustre, /r/tich e.rteiuls on to the tertials ; head, 

 neck, upjjer breast, and sides 0/ the body chest aut-broivn ; a broad hand across the loiver breast white, 

 the bases of some of the feathers brown, giving in some Sjiecimens a ntore or less mottled appearance ; 

 abdomen bronm ; under tail-coverts white ; bill black, the apical portion slaty-bhie, nail black ; legs 

 wild, feet grey, webs and liinder portion <f tarsi dark slate colour : iris irhite. Total length in the 

 flesh 2:' inches, icing 9, tail 3, hill 21, tarsus I'll. 



Adult femalk. — Slig/itly duller in plumage than the male and smaller. U'ii/g So inches. 



Distribution. — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Hueensland, 

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



;N favourable situations the White-eyed Duck, or " Hard-head," as it is more frequently 

 called in the southern parts of the continent, is distributed throughout all the .\ustralian 

 States, and also occurs, but in far less numbers, in Tasmania. Its ultra-Australian range is 

 recorded by Count Salvadori, in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," as New 

 Zealand, the Auckland Islands, New Caledonia and Papuan Islands, westwards as far as 

 Waigiou. In Central Australia Mr. G. A. Keartland, while with the Horn Scientific Expedition 

 in 1874, records that several of these Ducks were shot at ()wen Springs. Later on in 1896-7, 

 while a member of the Calvert Exploring Expedition, Mr. Keartland records : — " White-eyed 

 Ducks (Nyroca anstmlis) were found scattered all over Western Australia, wherever fresh water 

 pools existed. Near Lake Way and the Fitzroy River (North-western Australia) they were 

 particularly numerous, and many were shot for food. They were generally seen in flocks, but 

 occasionally singly or in pairs. Owing to the density of their plumage, rapid flight and dexterity 

 in diving, they tax the skill of the sportsmen in pursuit of them. Nyroca niistmlis is often found 

 in company with Ducks of other species, particularly Teal."* At Point Cloates, North-western 



' Trans. Roy. Soc. S A , V.jl. XXII., p. 191 (iSgS). 



