BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 203 



and the chest are elongated and of a pale straw colour; sides of 

 rump, upper tail coverts, tail, shoulders, and outer lesser wing 

 coverts brown ; quills and their coverts black ; basal half of primary 

 shafts white on the upper surface; " gular pouch and mandibles 

 yellowish-white, the latter stained with blue, which gradually 

 increases in depth to the tip; apical half of the cutting edges of 

 the mandibles yellow, gradually increasing in depth to the tip ; 

 nail of both mandibles greenish-yellow; irides dark brown; eyelash 

 indigo-blue ; orbits pale sulphur-yellow, bounded by a narrow ring 

 of pale indigo-blue ; legs and upper part of the metatarsi yellowish- 

 white; feet, webs, and lower part of the metatarsi pale bluish- 

 grey, the two colours blending with each other at the middle of 

 the metatarsi; nails dull yellowish-white" (Gould). Dimensions 

 in mm.: Length, 1,520; bill, 445; wing, 625; tail, 190; tarsus, 

 127. 



Male and Female (non-breeding plumage). Crest and straw- 

 coloured feathers absent. 



Xcst. Either a flat construction of dry herbage, or else a 

 shallow depression scratched in the ground; placed in a small 

 rookery in an elevated position on a small island, or else on the 

 shore of an inland lake. 



Eggs. Clutch two to three; elliptical in shape, with the shell 

 coarse in texture ; surface fairly glossy ; colour white, more or 

 less heavily and unevenly coated with lime; the shell soon be- 

 comes much nest-stained. Dimensions in mm. of a clutch : (1) 

 105 x 60, (2) 92 x 59. In no instance did a clutch number more 

 than two in a number of nests examined in a moderate-sized 

 rookery in Bass Strait. 



Breeding Season. September and November usually. 



Geographical Distribution. Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 and New Guinea. 



Observations. Thanks to the attentions of '' pot-hunters," the 

 Pelican is far more scarce round the coast of Tasmania than it was 

 a few years since. At various times i have seen solitary indi- 

 viduals fishing some distance up rivers emptying into the sea. 

 On several small islets lying off the Tasmanian coast there are 

 small rookeries of this species. 



ORDER PYGOPODES : DIVING BIRDS. 

 FAMILY- PODICIPEDID/E (3 species). 



*BLACK-THROATED GREBE 



(Podicipcs novte-liollandife, Steph.) 



Male and Female (breeding plumage). Forehead, crown, and 

 back of the neck black, glossed with green ; a dark chestnut band, 

 commencing behind the eyes,, runs down either side of the neck; 



