380 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



It breeds in September and October, constructing a nest 

 very like that of the Biziura lobata, and laying from two to 

 nine or ten eggs, which are of a large size, and of a uniform 

 bluish white, with a very rough surface ; two inches and five- 

 eighths long by two inches broad. 



Its food consists of insects, shelled mollusks, fish, &c. 



The sexes differ very considerably in plumage. 



The male has the whole of the head, throat, and neck 

 black ; chest, breast, back, and flanks rich chestnut ; wings 

 and tail brownish black; rump brownish black, freckled with 

 brown j belly and under tail-coverts brownish grey, obscurely 

 marked transversely with dark brown; irides very dark 

 brown ; bill light blue ; front and inner side of the tarsi and 

 toes french-grey ; outside of tarsi and webs blackish grey. 



The female is the same size as the male, and has a plumage 

 of uniform blackish brown, transversely marked with in- 

 distinct zigzag lines and freckles of chestnut-brown, lighter 

 and more greyish brown on the under surface ; tail-feathers 

 black ; bill dark olive-green ; the under mandible lighter than 

 the upper ; irides, legs, and feet as in the male, but paler. 



I append a description of that portion of the economy of the 

 North African species Erismatura leucocepliala which relates 

 to its nidification, because it serves to confirm my assertion 

 that the eggs of the Australian bird are from two to ten in 

 number, which is rendered remarkable by the circumstance of 

 the nearly allied Biziura lobata being said to lay only two, 



" We found two nests of the White-headed Duck," says 

 the Rev. H. B. Tristram, " among the sedge, containing, the 

 one three, the other eight eggs. These are very large for the 

 size of the bird, almost perfectly elliptical in shape, of an ex- 

 tremely rough texture, unlike that of any other Duck, more 

 resembling the egg of the Bean Goose, but far more coarsely 

 grained and of a dull white colour. The habits and flight of 

 the bird are more like those of a Grebe than a Duck : it 

 often saves itself by diving, and remains under water for a 

 considerable time." — Ibis, 1860, p. 163. 



