246 



Young. General plumage paler than in the adult ; the facial streaks, and the throat, washed with fulvous 

 brown ; the underparts tinged with rufous brown. 



Nestling. Upper parts dark olive-brown, with produced hair-like filaments of paler brown ; sides of the 

 head and underparts of the body pale yellowish brown, lightest on the abdomen ; from the base of the 

 bill, on each side, a dark band passes beyond the eye, and another in a curve below it ; there are 

 markings of fulvous white on the edges of the wings ; and on each side of the back there are two 

 irregular spots of the same, about an inch apart. Irides black ; bill and legs plumbeous, the nail of the 

 former brown. 



Varieties. Slight differences are observable in the plumage of fully adult birds ; and a specimen which I 

 obtained at Manawatu in the winter of 1864 was very curiously marked on the breast, each feather 

 having a crescentic or horse-shoe band of yellowish white, similar to the markings on the breast of the 

 Shoveller. There is also a manifest difference in the size of the birds from different localities. 



Obs. The sexes are alike in plumage, but differ slightly in size. 



Common in every part of our country, the Grey Duck ranges over the whole of Australia as well, 

 and is found also in some of the Polynesian islands. I found it extremely abundant at the 

 Chatham Islands ; and it is said to occur on Norfolk Island also. 



It is deservedly in high estimation for the table, and may be regarded as perhaps the most 

 valuable of our indigenous birds. It is less plentiful than it formerly was, which is no doubt 

 partly attributable to the increased traffic on our rivers, but is chiefly owing to the indiscriminate 

 use of the gun. Happily, however, the Colonial Legislature has undertaken the care of this 

 among other native species, and the Wild-Birds Protection Act now makes it a punishable offence 

 to shoot or trap these birds during certain months of the year. 



It frequents rivers, bush-creeks, lagoons, and swamps, often consorting in large flocks, but 

 more generally associating in parties of from three to seven. In some localities it affords very good 

 shooting ; and being seminocturnal in its habits, a clear moonlight night is considered by many 

 the best time for this kind of sport. The birds on reaching their feeding-ground make a circuit 

 in the air to reconnoitre, and then descend in an oblique direction, the rapid vibration of their 

 wings producing a whistling sound, very familiar and pleasant to the ear of a sportsman. 



Regarded as an article of food, the Grey Duck is in its prime during the autumn and com- 

 mencement of winter ; but the quality of the game differs according to the locality, those from 

 the lakes and rivers of the interior having a richer flavour as a rule than birds living hi the 

 vicinity of the sea-shore, where the feed is coarser. 



In its habits, it differs in no respect from the other members of its group. In the water it 

 swims low, with the neck erect and the head gently swayed to and fro ; when at rest it either 

 floats on the surface, with the head drawn closely in, or it reposes on the bank very near to the 

 water's edge, often selecting a jutting point of land, as affording a more unobstructed view and 

 less danger of surprise ; and when the banks are soft and muddy it takes up its station on a log 

 of wood, bare rock, or other projecting object. Naturally of a wild disposition, the attempts to 

 domesticate this bird, even when it is taken from the nest and reared by hand, generally end in 



