ANAS. 341 



Genus ANAS, Linnceus. 



^^ ANAS SUPERCILIOSA, Gmelin. 



Australian Black Duck. 



Gould, ffandbk. Bds. Aust, Vol. ii., sp. 585, p. 363. 



" The eggs of this species vary in number from six to ten for a 

 sitting. The nest is often placed at some distance from the water 

 amoiig herbage on the ground, which hides the bird from view 

 when sitting. Often a small ' run ' through the long grass and 

 herbs leads to the nest itself. A great variety of situations is 

 chosen for the nest, and the eggs are always covered over with 

 down and feathers of the parent bird when she leaves the nest. 

 The colour is a pale cream tint, sometimes with a greenish shade. 

 One egg I have seen has a round green spot, but this must be 

 looked upon as quite accidental. Average length 2-2 x 1-9 inches 

 in breadth." {Ramsay, P.L.S., N.S. W., 2nd Series,Vol.i.,p. 1152.) 



Hob. Derby, N. W. Australia, Port Darwin and Port Essington, 

 Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, 

 Wide Bay, Dawson River, Richmond and Clarence Rivers 

 Districts, NewSouth Wales, Interior, Victoria and South Australia, 

 Tasmania, West and South-west Australia, South Coast New 

 Guinea. {Bamsay.) 



ANAS CASTANEA, Eyton. 

 (A. punctata, Cuvier.) 

 AustraJian Teal. 

 Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aust., Vol. ii., sp. 586, p. 365. 



This weU known bird is widely dispersed over the Continent of 

 Australia, and the greater portion of Tasmania. It usually resorts 

 to the hollow limbs of trees to breed, enveloping its eggs in a mass 

 of down plucked from the breast of the parent birds ; but 

 occasionally its nest is found in the long grass or rushes bordering 

 the margins of rivers and lagoons. Eggs eight or nine in number 



