84 XATUBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES. 



the market, are considered the finest-eating birds of the 

 whole lot, and a teal supper at ten shillings per head 

 used to be the general evening's finish for the " men 

 about town " in Melbourne. 



The Music Duck, so called from the strong musky 

 scent peculiar to the male, especially in the breeding 

 season, is a singularly ugly bird. Clumsy and chubby 

 in shape, as large as a small goose, of one uniform dull 

 grayish-black colour, thick head and beak, and the male 

 has a large warty flap, or excrescence, hanging down 

 from the chin. It has a curious appearance when swim- 

 ming, the body almost entirely under water, the head 

 and neck alone visible. It was, I believe, not uncommon 

 in some of the inland lagoons, but rare with us. In fact, 

 it is a shy solitary bird, frequenting creeks and water- 

 holes grown up with very thick rushes, and not often 

 seen. The wings are mere rudiments, like those of the 

 divers, to which class of birds I fancy it belongs, and it 

 trusts much more to its powers of diving than flight for 

 its safety. I never saw one on the wing. I have killed 

 it out at sea, in the bay, but I generally used to come 

 upon an odd one in some out-of-the-way creek or water- 

 hole, and never saw more than two together, although 

 they bred with us. It is rank and fishy to the taste, 

 and, except as a curiosity, hardly worth shooting. Some 

 call it the Moss duck. 



This completes the list of Victorian ducks, and it will 

 be found very meagre in varieties, when compared with 

 that of Britain, which numbers about twenty-six varieties, 



