Birds of Celebes: Anatidae. 



875 



lower back and rump almost uniform darker brown, sbghtly glossy; secondaries 

 velvety black, narrowly tipped with white, the tenth feather metallic green, except at 

 tip, the adjacent part of the next feather similar; the outer 9—11 greater wing- 

 coverts white, except quite at the base, the inner feathers brown, tipped with whitish 

 brown; forehead and face rufous brown, finely streaked with brownish black, be- 

 coming on crown and nape almost uniform brownish black; chin and upper throat 

 white with rusty tips to the feathers; remaining under parts cinnamon, bright 

 Avith brown -black spots (the colour of the middles of the feathers) on the breast, 

 dull, with obscure grey-brown spots for the rest; under tail-coverts blacldsh, with 

 pale edges; under wing-coverts blackish brown, some of the longer inner ones 

 edged with white; axillaries white {(f, Lake Posso, 12. Feb. 95: P.& F. Sarasin). 

 Female. Seems to be quite smiilar to the male, but smaller with a smaller bill. This spe- 

 cimen has the throat buff white, without rusty tips to the feathers ($ Towuti Lake, 



Eggs. Described by Dr. E. P. Ramsay (e 11) as from six to ten in number; creamy white; laid 

 in the hollow branches of trees. Size about 48 X 37 mm. 



Distribution. With racial differences: Celebes — Minahassa (Forsten el, Meyer 6 3), 

 Gorontalo Distr. (Forsten el, Rosenberg el, e 4, etc.), Paguatt (Forsten el), 

 Lake Posso, Central Celebes (P.&F. Sarasin e 14, el5], Luwu, head of Gulf of 

 Tomini (Weber e 13, P. &F. S), Soutli Celebes (S. Miiller el. Platen e 8, 

 P.&F. S., Everett 5); Saleyer Id. (Everett 5); Java (Vorderman e 7, D iar d ZZ, 

 V. Schierbrand); Sumba (Riedel hi, Doherty 5); Flores (Wallace cl, II, 

 Weber e 13); Timor (S. Miiller el, Wallace c 1, II); Aru (Riedel); New Guinea 

 (Loria 4); New Caledonia (el, e 12); Australia (Gould d 1, Ramsay e 9); New 

 Zealand (Buller, etc. e 10). 



Touching the question of the identity of N. castaneum and N. gihberifrons, 

 or their distinctness as two species, the difficulty may be stated as follows: 



no* 



