NATATORES. 357 



Genus NETTAPUS, Brandt. 



Of this genus of Pygmy Geese there are now at least four 

 species known ; one inhabiting Africa, one India, and two 

 Australia. 



Sp. 581. NETTAPUS PULCHELLUS, Gould. 



Green Pygmy Goose. 



Nettapus pulchellus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part ix. p. 89. 

 Loon-hyte, Aborigines of the northern coast of Australia. 

 Little Goose, Residents at Port Essington. 



Nettapus pulchellus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 4. 



The acquisition of an entirely new species of Nettapus, a 

 generic name applied to these Pygmy Geese by M. Brandt of 

 St. Petersburg, is not one of the least valuable results of the 

 exploration of the northern coast of Australia ; independently 

 of its great beauty, the present species is interesting, as 

 uniting most completely, in the character and disposition 

 of some of its markings, the two previously known species, 

 N. coromandelianus and N. madagascariensis, which differ 

 very considerably in these points. Although very goose- 

 like in the form of its head, particularly in the elevation of 

 the upper mandible, its largely webbed feet indicate a strictly 

 aquatic mode of life ; and in the notes accompanying the two 

 specimens shot at Port Essington by Gilbert, he states that he 

 first saw a pair of these beautiful birds on the 16th of January, 

 swimming on a quiet secluded lake, shut in on all sides by 

 very high grass : both of these he succeeded in killing at a 

 shot ; he further states that they are rare in the Peninsula, 

 only one specimen having been procured prior to his obtain- 

 ing these two. It is an extremely shy species, and at the 

 slightest movement of anything near it, dives and remains 

 under water a long time. Having, on dissecting the female, 

 found a nearly developed egg in the ovarium, he was induced 



