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the very water's edge. Years later, a broad road was cut through, on the south bank, for Cobb's 

 coaches, and now on the north bank the Manawatu Eailway — high above the level of the river- 

 takes its sinuous course, and the Mountain Duck knows a home there no longer ! 



A specimen of this Duck from Dusky Sound which passed through my hands differed from 

 ordinary examples in having the whole of the plumage of a silky texture, and the entire breast in 

 front and on the sides thickly studded with dark chestnut-brown spots, becoming almost confluent 

 in places. 



Mr. W. W. Smith's experience is similar to my own, for he writes of this Duck : " When 

 wounded they are expert divers, diving in the rapid waters and re-appearing long distances down 

 stream." 



HOME OF THE MOUNTAIN DUCK. 



I have elsewhere, in writing of the Penguins, stated that I consider the King Penguin 

 (Ajptenodijtes patagonica) the most gentle of the group. Among the Ducks, this distinction un- 

 doubtedly belongs to the Mountain Duck. The following incident is sufficient evidence of the fact. 

 On the 13th October I was shown by the men at the survey camp a nest of this species in a 

 hollow log lying about twenty yards from the stream, at Eikiorangi, some seven or eight miles up 



