GREEN PYGMY GOOSE 101 



ruary (North, 1913). Gilbert (Gould, 1865), found a nest, January 16, at Port 

 Essington. G. F. Hill (1913) had eggs brought to him on March 3 by a native 

 and there are downy young from the East Alligator River (North Territory) taken 

 April 24, 1913. 



The Green Pygmy Goose has been found nesting both on the ground and in the 

 trees, depending probably on the availability of suitable forest areas. Campbell 

 (1901) describes the nest as "constructed of long dry grasses, the slight cavity for 

 the eggs being sometimes lined with feathers and down; usually resting upon the 

 surface of the water among the herbage of a swamp or lagoon. Possibly the eggs are 

 occasionally deposited in hollow trees." An earlier observer, Gilbert (Gould, 1865), 

 at Port Essington found a nest "built up in the long grass about a foot above the 

 water, the bottom of the nest resting on its surface"; the nest was composed of dry 

 grasses, and did not contain lining of any kind, but one obtained later was lined 

 with feathers. Campbell's observations were apparently taken directly from Gilbert 

 and therefore do not add much of value. In western Queensland on the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria, G. F. Hill (1913) found it common in pairs during February in the submerged 

 open-forest country, and a native who brought him some of the eggs said the nest 

 was built in the grass near a swamp. Keartland (North, 1913), however, affirms that 

 they usually lay their eggs in a "hollow branch" sometimes far from water, and 

 Rogers (Mathews, 1914-15) also thinks they occasionally nest in trees. Macgilli- 

 vray (1914) found the Green Pygmy Goose nesting at Byromine, North Queensland, 

 " one nesting hollow [presumably a tree is meant] containing as many as eleven eggs." 

 Keartland says he knows of as many as thirteen eggs being found. The normal 

 clutch is probably nearer nine or ten. In color the eggs are creamy white, the 

 shell smooth and lustrous, measuring 43 to 45 mm. by 33.8 to 36 mm. (North, 

 1913). 



Status of Species. No information is available besides what has been included 

 under Distribution and General Habits. 



Food Value. Robinson and Laverock (1900) considered these birds "a welcome 

 addition" to their larder while traveling in North Queensland, and Rogers (Ma- 

 thews, 1914-15) says he shot many for food on Melville Island. Beyond this nothing 

 has been recorded. 



Behavior in Captivity. Like the African Pygmy Goose this species has appar- 

 ently never reached Europe or America alive. North (1913) mentions a gentleman 

 who kept some in confinement in Sydney "several of which died." Like the other 

 Pygmy Geese, the species is evidently ill-adapted to aviary life. 



