142 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 



A bulky nest usually made of reeds, rushes, &c., and 

 generally placed on a thick growth of those plants in swamps. 

 The number of eggs varies from eight to fourteen. They are 

 yellowish-white and pitted, and measure about 3.02 x 2.31 inch. 



These birds are now scarce in Southern Australia. 



Sub-family Plectropterinw. 

 Hind toe not lobed, long. Feet fully webbed. Tail feathers 

 rather long, broad, rounded at tip. Upper parts glossy. 



Genus Nettopus. 

 Length of bill less than double its depth. 



The Green Dwarf Goose. 



Nettopus pulchellus. 



Australia, New Guinea, Moluccas, Celebes and Tenimber Islands. 



Sides of the head, throat, breast, and abdomen white; top of head 

 brown, banded with dark green and pale brown; neck, back, scapulars 

 and upper wing-coverts dark glossy green; lower part of neck and sides 

 with crescent white and green bands; upper tail-coverts banded; white 

 band across the wing; tail and under tail-coverts glossy black. Total 

 length about 13.5 inches, wing 6.9, tail 3, culmen 0.98, tarsus 0.98. Female 

 has top of head uniform brown-black, sides of head and neck speckled 

 with black. 



Nest occasionally made of grass or similar vegetation among 

 the thick growth of the swamps and lined with feathers, but 

 usually in hollows in trees. Clutch about nine, of a light-cream 

 colour. They measure about 1.70 x 1.28 inch. These beautiful 

 little geese are not found in Southern Australia, but only in the 

 northern districts. 



The White-quilled Dwarf Goose. 



Nettopus albipennis. 



Queensland and New South Wales. 



Crown brown; remainder of head, neck, and lower plumage white; 

 a broad collar round the neck, black in front and green behind; the white 

 of the breast going round the neck and forming another collar below the 

 black one; back and wing-coverts glossy green; white band on wing; the 

 female has the breast mottled with brown, and lower plumage barred 

 with brown. Total length 13 inches, wing 6.5, tail 3, culmen 0.92, tarsus 1. 



Nest generally in a hollow in a tree. About nine form a 

 clutch, and they are a light-cream, and measure about 1.90 x 

 1.45 inch. 



