Birds of Celebes: Anatidae. gg5 



FAMILY ANATIDAE. 



Description as for the order. Count Salvadori (I.e.) recognises 11 sub- 

 families, of which 3 are represented in Celebes — the Plectopterinae by Nettopus, 

 the Anatinae by Dendrocycna, Anas, Nettion and Querquedula, and the Fuligulinae 

 by Nyroca. 



GENUS NETTOPUS Brandt. 



Bill Goose-like, shorter than the head, across the nostrils as high as broad ; 

 hind toe small, not lobed; no wing-speculum; size small. Four species, inhabit- 

 ing the Indian, Australian, and Ethiopian Regions. 



•^367. NETTOPUS PULCHELLUS J. Gd. 



Australian Pygmy Goose. 



a. Nettapus pulchellus (1) Gould, P. Z. S. 1841, 89; (II) id., B. Austr. VII, pi. 4 (1842); 



(III) Rchb., S. A., Natatores, 1844, t. 96 (LV, Spl. XXm), figs. 938, 939; (4) Gould 

 Hb. B. Austr. 1865, H, 357; (5) W. Bias., Z. ges. Orn. 1886, 202, 210; (6) Rams., 

 Tab. List 1888, 22, Nr. 661; (7) North, Nests and Eggs B. Austr. 1889, 337. 



b. AnsereUa pulcheUa (1) Gray, HL. 1871, HI, 77, Nr. 10595. 



Nettopus pulchellus (1) Sclat., P. Z. S. 1880, 505; (2) Salvad., Om. Pap. 1882, m, 384; 

 (3) Finsch, Mt. orn. Ver. Wien 1884, VHI, 109; (4) Salvad., Agg. Orn. Pap. 1891, 

 210; (5) id.. Cat. B. 1895, XXVH, 67. 



For further references see Salvadori 5, 4, 5. 



Figures and descriptions. Gould all, 1, 4; Eeicheubach a III; Salvadori 2, 5. 



Adult male. Above glossy bottle-green, the feathers of head above tipped with, and crossed with 

 a subterminal bar of pale brown ; a broad collar round neck and throat dark bottle-green ; 

 upper tail-coverts venniculated with white; secondaries partly white, two or three 

 of the middle ones entirely white, forming a white band on the wing; face and ear- 

 coverts white, dusky between the gape and eye; under-parts white, the jugulimi, 

 sides of neck and of body crossed with U- und V-shaped bands of bottle-green and 

 blackish; under wing-coverts and axillaries blackish bottle-green; under tail- 

 coverts blackish, the shorter ones glossy ([q^] ad., Amboina: Riedel — C 7324). 

 "Irides dark brown ; bill dark greenish grey (nib white), under mandible irregularly 

 blotched with a bghter colour; legs and feet blackish brown, with a yeUomsh white 

 naH" (Gould a 71). 



Female. Wants the green collar of the male, and has the head above uniform dark glossy 

 brown, continuous with a green gloss down the hind neck. 



Immature male or male in non -breeding or winter plumage. According to Finsch both 

 sexes are sinular. Probably this is when the male is not in nuptial dress or is im- 

 mature. 



Measurements. Wing 170—178; tail c. 75; tarsus 26; middle toe with claw c. 46; exposed 

 culmen c. 35 mm. 



Nest and eggs. Gilbert found a nest of this species at Port Essington near the margin of 

 a lake ; it was "built up in the long grass about a foot above the water, the bottom 

 of the nest resting on its surface; it was composed of long dry grasses, slightly hol- 



Meyer A- Wigleswortli, ISirds (jf Celfbes (Dec. Iltli 1S97). 109 



