^'°'- '^- 1 Hall, Nofes on Ducks. 70 



190Q J ' f y 



Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Lath. (Pink-eared Duck). — 

 This bird feeds in the same manner as the Shoveller (Blue- 

 wing-). It shovels about in the mud, head down and tail up, as 

 it floats. The preference is for brackish lagoons, such as lakes 

 Chapman and Tuchivvop. 



Casarca tadoi'noides, Jard. (Shieldrake or Mountain-Duck). — 

 Feeds upon the short mossy grasses in the same way as the 

 Maned Goose. This causes quick decomposition of the bird 

 when killed in summer. 



Stictonetta nervosa, Gld. (Freckled Duck). — Here we have a 

 Duck quiet, tame, and sleepy. Shooters say it has no sense of 

 smell. Its voice is likened to the grunt of a Berkshire pig. 



Ckenonetta jubata, l.ath. (Maned Goose, Wood-Duck.) — This 

 is a pasture feeder. I found it during this season to be 

 very destructive of specially grown crops. The first crop 

 (18 acres) of rice grown in Victoria for commercial purposes was 

 completely destroyed by it. At other times it appears to 

 feed on grass fields. It is a tame bird, and will even approach 

 one, from an inquisitive turn of mind, the whole flock gradually 

 getting nearer. It associates in large flocks. 



Anseranas seviipalniata, Lath. (Pied Goose). — Is a grass 

 feeder. In 1902, the great drought year, farmers in this locality 

 poisoned them because they were feeding almost entirely on the 

 growing crops. Up to 1902 I knew them to be annually in 

 thousands. Cultivation has driven them away for good, so far 

 as present generations are concerned. 



Bird Notes from Cleveland, Tasmania. 



By (Miss) J. A. Fletcher. 



Part II. 



In my last paper {Emu, viii., p. 210), I dealt with three varieties 

 of lagoon birds. 



Owing to the Cleveland lagoon partly drying up, the Bitterns 

 {Botaurus pcecilopterus) did not nest here, but sought refuge in a 

 large lagoon some distance away, and so I was unable to study 

 them as I had wished. In the autumn of 1908 I found an old 

 nest of these birds containing egg-shell fragments, but the 

 swamp in which this was found remained dry all the year, and 

 the birds did not return. The Bitterns when disturbed would 

 stand in their characteristic attitude for a while and then rise 

 and wing their way to another corner of the lagoon. On the 9th 

 October last year they commenced their "booming" calls, and 

 these were continued up to the second week of December. I 

 remember early one morning flushing six Bitterns from their 

 breakfast of water reeds. They were all, as far as could be seen, 



