The disappearance of the Paradise Duck from the Nelson district, where it was formerly so 

 abundant, is generally attributed to the laying of poisoned wheat for wild rabbits ; but I am more 

 inclined to ascribe it to the ravages of stoats and weasels. 



Of this handsome Duck, Mr. Seddon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, sent me, in 

 1903, two living pairs, which I deposited for a time in the Zoological Society's Gardens at Eegent's 

 Park, ultimately presenting a pair to my friend, Sir Eobert Herbert, to be placed on his 

 ornamental waters at Ickleton. 



On the West Coast, in the early part of January, I shot a young Paradise Duck, fully fledged, 

 but unable to fly. I observed that it swam very low, only the head and neck appearing above the 

 surface. This was in Milford Sound, not far from the beautiful waterfall which perpetuates the 

 name of one of our most popular Governors, and is represented in the foregoing photograph taken 

 by my daughter. 



Ordee ANSEBIFOBMES.l 



[Family ANATIDiE. 



ANAS SUPERCILIOSA. 



(GEEY DUCK.) 



Anas superciliosa, Gmelin; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 251. 



Peobably no bird is better known and appreciated in New Zealand than the Grey Duck. Afford- 

 ing excellent game for sportsmen and forming a valuable addition to the table, it will always 

 claim special attention. But it is being gradually supplanted by a superior bird in every way, that 

 is to say, a cross between this native Duck and the introduced Mallard. A few years will 

 probably suffice to establish the cross-breed everywhere, because the conditions of life are 

 very favourable to birds of this class. When one reflects that about thirty years ago there were no 

 Black Swans in New Zealand, and that now thousands are to be met with in both islands, 

 all being the progeny of two or three pairs turned loose by the late Captain W. T. Owen and 

 myself on the Euatangata Lake, in the North Island, in 1865, and about a similar number 

 liberated by Sir Cracroft Wilson and the Acclimatisation Society in the South Island, a year or 

 two earlier,* it is pretty safe to hazard a conjecture that in, say, ten years' time, the cross-breeds 



* Being anxious to get confirmation of this fact, as against the theory of voluntary immigration from Australia, I 

 wrote to several gentlemen in the South Island, capable of forming a sound opinion, and was favoured with the 

 following replies : — 



Captain Hutton writes (6th July, 1903) : " The Black Swan is abundant on all the lakes in Canterbury and Otago. 

 It is commonly seen hanging up in the poulterers' shops. I saw one at the Auckland Islands in 1901. I have no doubt 

 but that these are all the produce of those turned out by yourself and the Acclimatisation Society, for the time 

 of spreading agrees well. I saw plenty on Lake Grassmere (Marlborough) in 1872, but at that time there were none on 

 Lake Ellesmere, which is good evidence that they came to us from the north." 



Mr. W. W. Smith writes (August 15th, 1903) : " The vast multitudes of these birds now inhabiting the in- 

 land Otago lakes, Lake Ellesmere (Waihora) in Canterbury, Lake Brunner and other remote lakes, are unquestionably 

 the descendants of the few pairs liberated by you in the north in 1865, and of other pairs liberated by several 



