BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 203 



and the chest are elongated and of a pale straw colour; sides of 

 rump, upper tail coverts, tail, shoulders, and outer lesser wing 

 coverts brown ; quills and their coverts black ; basal half of primary 

 shafts white on the upper surface; " gular pouch and mandibles 

 yellowish-white, the latter stained with blue, which gradually 

 increases in depth to the tip ; apical half of the cutting edges of 

 the mandibles yellow, gradually increasing in depth to the tip ; 

 nail of both mandibles greenish-yellow ; irides dark brown ; eyelash 

 indigo-blue; orbits pale sulphur-yellow, bounded by a narrow ring 

 of pale indigo-blue ; legs and upper part of the metatarsi yellowish- 

 white; feet, webs, and lower part of the metatarsi pale bluish- 

 . grey, the two colours blending with each other at the middle of 

 the metatarsi; nails dull yellowish-white" (Gould). Dimensions 

 in mm.: — Length, 1,520; bill, 445; wing, 625; tail, 190; tarsus, 

 127. 



Male and FeTnale {non-breeding plumage). — Crest and straw- 

 coloured feathers absent. 



Nest. — Either a flat construction of dry herbage, or else a 

 shallow depression scratched in the ground ; placed in a small 

 rookery in an elevated position on a small island, or else on the 

 shore of an inland- lake. 



Eggs. — Clutch two to three; elliptical in shape, with the shell 

 coarse in texture; surface fairly glossy; colour white, more or 

 less heavily and unevenly coated with lime ; the shell soon be- 

 comes much nest-stained. Dimensions in mm. of a clutch: — (1) 

 105 X 60, (2) 92 X 59. In no instance did a clutch number more 

 than two in a number of nests examined in a moderate-sized 

 rookery in Bass Strait. 



Breeding Season. — September and November usually. 



Oeographical Distribution. — Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 and New Guinea. 



Observations. — Thanks to the attentions of '' pot-himters," the 

 Pelican is far more scarce round the coast of Tasmania than it was 

 a few years since. At various times 1 have seen solitary indi- 

 viduals fishing some distance up rivers emptying into the sea. 

 On several small islets lying off the Tasmanian coast there are 

 small rookeries of this species. 



ORDER— PYGOPODES : DIVING BIRDS. 

 FAMILY- PODICIPEDID/E (3 species). 



*BLACK-THEOATBD GREBE 



(Podicipes novce-hollandics, Steph.) 



Male and Female (breeding plumage). — Forehead, crown, and 



back of the neck black, glossed with green ; a dark chestnut band, 



commencing behind the eyes, runs down either side of the neck; 



