134 ANSERIFORMES 



iireeii crescentic bands, and the l)ill and feet black. iVi coroman- 

 delianus, extending from the Indian Eegion to (Celebes, has a 

 white neck, a brown band across the breast, and the tianks freckled 

 with grey ; N. albipermis, of East Australia, is similar but larger : 

 jV. anritus, of West and South Africa with Madagascar, has a sea- 

 green patch on each side of the occiput, the lower part of the neck 

 and the Hanks being rufous. The females are much duller. These 

 " Pigmy Geese " frequent small lakes and dive admirably ; the 

 note is a cackle ; the nest, placed in holes in trees or ruins, if not 

 among grass, contains from six to twelve white eggs. 



Pteronetta iKirtlaubi, of AVest Africa, is chestnut with black 

 head and Ijlue wing-coverts in ])oth sexes. lihodonessa caryo- 

 phyllacea, of India and Burma, is rich brown dotted with whitish, 

 the head and nape being pink, the speculum salmon-coloured, the 

 bill reddish-white, the feet blackish. It lays round white eggs. 



Asarcornis scutulata, ranging from East Bengal to Java, has a 

 black and wliite head, black mantle and under surface, greenish- 

 olive upper parts, with l)lack and white on the wings, a blue-grey 

 speculum, reddish l)ill and feet, i^arr idiom is incla'jionota, of India, 

 Ceylon, Burma, and the Ethiopian Eegion, is black with metallic 

 hues alcove, and white below ; the liead and neck are black and 

 white, the rump is grey, the tail brown, the feet, bill, and its 

 basal comb or caruncle black. ;S'. curumndata, of Brazil, Paraguay, 

 and North Argentina, differs in its black rump. The comb is 

 largest in the breeding season, and is wanting in females. These 

 Wattle-Ducks perch on trees and breed in cavities of the trunks, 

 laying a dozen or more white eggs. The note is harsh and the 

 flight slow. Cairina, moschata, the Muscovy^ — or more correctly 

 Musk — ^Duck of ornamental waters, extends from Mexico to 

 Argentina ; the crested head, neck, and lower parts are brownish- 

 black ; the upper surface is glossy green, with pur])le on the back 

 and white wing-coverts ; the l)ill is black and white ; the feet are 

 black ; and the frontal and orljital caruncles of the male red. It 

 inhabits forest-swamps, roosts in trees, eats maize, mandioc roots, 

 and herbage, and nests in holes in trees or between forking 

 branches. Flectroptcrus gamhensis of Mid-Africa, P. rilppeJ/i of 

 the North-East, P. niger of the South-East, and P. scioanus of 

 Shoa, the four hardly separable Spur-winged Geese, are metallic 

 black, with more or less white on the sides of the head, lesser 

 wing-coverts, throat, and alxlomen ; tlie feet, bill, frontal knob, 



