The nest is made of grass, thickly lined with down, sometimes close to the 

 edge of a swampy creek, or beneath the sheltering leaves of a large 

 " Maori-head" (Carex virgata). 



The eggs are large, for the size of the bird, cream colour, not unlike those 

 of the Mountain Duck, in tint, but perhaps slightly darker ; length 2 inches 

 5 lines, diameter 1 inch 10 lines, We have not found more than eight eggs 

 to a nest. On a pond at Rockwood, in the Malvern Hills, three Teal 

 fraternised with some tame Paradise Ducks, and came regularly, to be fed, 

 every day, with pieces of bread. 



No. 96. — Fuligula Novje Zelandi.e, Gml. 

 Papango. 

 Black Widgeon. 



In the hill-country, a few years since, this was sufficiently common ; a 

 small tarn, near Lake Coleridge, yet retains the name of Widgeon Lake, from 

 the numbers which formerly frequented it. Near one small pool in the 

 Ashburton country, where it bred in considerable numbers, neither birds nor 

 nests are now to be met with. 



A gregarious bird, it delights to assemble in large flocks, and may be seen 

 on some of the more secluded lakes, swimming about, and disporting with 

 numbers of other water-fowl, very frequently diving. Sometimes it breeds in 

 the shelter of a huge "Maori-head." We have found it well concealed by a 

 large snow-g;rass tussock, within a few feet of water, where there was a 

 rent or crack in the ground. Nest of grass, thickly lined with down, 

 contained five eggs of a deep cream-colour, ovoiconical in form, measuring 

 2 inches 8 lines, with a diameter of 1 inch nearly 9 lines. 



No. 98. — Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus, Gml. 

 Whio. 

 Blue Duck, Mountain Duck. 



The only way of seeing this singular bird to advantage, is by paying a 

 visit to the mountainous districts. On a mountain torrent, where the foaming 

 water dashes from rock to rock in countless eddies, the Mountain Duck lives 

 at ease, making its way up or down stream. Sometimes it may be observed 

 basking in the sunshine, near a shallow pool of the rapid streamlet. 

 Sometimes it is a burrowei", and its nest may be found in a hole in a bank ; 

 we have found it concealed from view by overhanging sprays of those various 

 alpine Yeronicas, which sometimes make the mountain creeks in the back- 

 country perfect gems of beauty. The nest, like that of other ducks, thickly 

 lined with down, we have found to contain five eggs, of a deep-cream colour, 

 elliptical in form, measuring 2 inches 8^ lines in length, with a diameter of 

 1 inch 9 lines. 



One of our early breeders ; we have known the young brood to be 

 swimming about by the end of September. We have seen nests of eggs in 

 October and November. A much frequented breeding-place is above the 

 gorge of the Potts river, — a tributary of the Rangitata. 



No. 99. — Podiceps rufipectus, Gray. 

 Totokipio. 

 Dab-chick, Little Grebe. 



This bird is far from uncommon, and is to be met with on lakes, lagoons, 

 and deep creeks that run still and swift, unlike the noisy torrents in which the 

 Mountain Duck delights. 



The nest is rather a large and somewhat clumsy structure, formed of the 

 roots and leaves of various aquatic plants. We have found it built against 



