Birds of Celebes: Anatidae. 877 



in Australia". These individuals did not breed in 1880 and 1881, though six 

 pairs were established in various parts of the Gardens; but in 1882 a pair 

 nested at the end of March and hatched four young ones. Dr. Sclater adds: 

 "There is no longer any doubt therefore that we have here to deal with a species 

 which, however much it may resemble the female of Anas castanea, is quite 

 distinct, and of which the sexes, as may be proved by the examination of our 

 breeding birds, are very nearly alike, the female being merely slightly smaller 

 in size and duller in plumage". 



The supposed female of A. castanea discussed by Prof. Newton was "in all 

 probability a male of Anas gibherifrons" . 



Count Salvador! recently examined specimens — one in the plumage of 

 the male N. castaneum, the other in that of the supposed female of the same, 

 and both on being dissected proved to be males. The bulla ossea was present 

 in both. Nevertheless, he remarks of N. gibbenfrons that it is "absolutely similar 

 to the supposed female of iV. castaneum , both in colour and dimensions, so that 

 I am utterly unable to distinguish it", and he holds the two species as distinct, 

 evidently not without misgivings. 



Our own conclusion in the matter is 1) that N. gibberifrons is a species per- 

 fectly distinct from N. castaneum, as is proved by Dr. Sclater, 2) that there is 

 no sound evidence to show that N. castaneum has ever occurred outside of Australia 

 and Tasmania. 



Besides Australia, N. castaneum has indeed been recorded from New Guinea, 

 New Caledonia, New Zealand, Sumba, Java, and Celebes. 



For the indication New Guinea Dr. Ramsay is the authority (Pr. L. Soc. 

 N. S. W. 1879,111, 115, 301; ibid. 1880, IV, 102). The locality was questioned by 

 Salvadori in his "Ornitologia della Papuasia" (1882), and afterwards Dr. Ramsay 

 evidently altered his decision, as in his "Tabulated List of Australian Birds" 

 1888, 22, he does not include New Guinea in the range of Atias castanea, but 

 with a "?" in that of A. gibberifrons. New Guinea therefore should be struck 

 out of the range of N. castaneum for the present. 



New Caledonia was put down as the habitat of an undescribed "'Anas 

 punctata var." by Gray (P. Z. S. 1859, 166) and by Verreaux and des Murs (Rev. 

 Zool. 1860, 422). Schlegel received one of Verreaux's specimens and deter- 

 mined it as A. gibberifrons; and some descriptions of a duck by Jouan (Mem. 

 Soc. Cherb. 1863, IX, 100, 242) included by Salvadori in the synonymy of 

 N, castaneum certainly do not relate to the adult male of N. castaneum, though 

 they might possibly have been made from the female, or from N. gibberifrons. 

 We anticipate therefore that N. gibberifrons rather than N. castaneum belongs to 

 New Caledonia. 



From New Zealand Salvadori records a female oi N. castaneum, but as he 

 confesses to an inability to distinguish the female of this species from Nettion 

 gibberifrons we are justified in considering it an error, since Sir W. BuUer makes 



