154 THE BIRDS OF AUSTEALIA 



Nest on the ground in thick herbage and lined with grass 

 and down. From four to five greenish-white eggs are laid, and 

 they measure about 2.70 x 2.04 inch. This bird, like the musk 

 duck, dives well and rarely flies. It is comparatively scarce. 



Genus Bisiura. 

 Bill shorter than head, very high at base. A pendent lobe 

 on the chin. Tail quills 24. 



The Musk Duck. 



Biziura lohata. 



Australia and Tasmania. 



Upper part of the head and nape brownish black, finely freckled; 

 upper surface, chest, and flanks blackish brown, thickly freckled with 

 bufEy white bars; under parts buffy white at tip of feathers; bill and 

 large lobe beneath the chin greenish black. Total length about 26 inches, 

 wing 9.25," tail 6, culmen 1.7, tarsus 1.55. 



Nest, either in a thick patch of rushes in a swamp, which they 

 bend over, and make the nest just above the water, or in a 

 hollow log or in thick herbage near water, lined with down. 

 Clutch from two to three coarse greenish-white eggs, the surface 

 often being scratched. They measure about 3.14 x 2.12 inches. 



These birds take refuge by diving, and rarely fly. They are 

 often seen in small companies in the harbours and estuaries 

 not far from shore. The scent of musk in the old males is strong. 



Order Pelecanipobmes. 

 The most extensively webbed of all the aquatic birds, the 

 hallux being united with the rest by a complete web. Nasal 

 bone unsplit. 



Family PhalacrocoracidcB. 

 Bill sub-cylindrical, strongly hooked at the tip, cutting edges 

 of mandibles entire. 



Genus Phalacrocorax. 

 Throat furnished with a pouch. Neck long and sinuous. 

 Tail rounded or wedge-shaped. Claw of mid toe pectinate. 



