EYTON'S TREE DUCK 181 



sented as lying in a fan-shaped group, outside, and covering all the basal part of the 

 wing, even projecting up over the back and this is correct in spite of the fact that the 

 plate has been criticized. 



The nest is placed on the ground, either on the plains far from water (sometimes 

 three or four miles according to Macgillivray, 1914) or in long cane-grass near the 

 water. If in the latter situation, it is said that the birds build long tracks through 

 the cane from the nest to the water. The nest is a slight hollow in the soil, lined only 

 with short grass (Robinson in North, 1913). Like other Tree Ducks these birds ap- 

 parently never use down or feathers in lining the nest. Gould (1865) mentions a nest 

 that was in a hollow log, presumably lying on the ground. There is no indication that 

 the species ever nests in trees, though it may very probably do so in the parts of its 

 range where trees are found. 



The clutches described by North (1913) numbered seven, nine, and ten eggs re- 

 spectively. Campbell (1901) gives ten to twelve as probably the normal number, 

 but Gould (1865) is perhaps more nearly correct in placing the number at eight to 

 ten. Macgillivray (1914) says that as many as ten may be found. Soderberg (1919) 

 found a nest in northwest Australia that contained eight eggs. One found by F. C. 

 Morse in New South Wales contained sixteen eggs (White, Emu, vol. 22, p. 168, 1922). 

 In color they are almost pure white. They measure about 48.5 by 35.8 mm. (average 

 of twelve eggs given by North, 1913). The extent of the incubation period is not 

 known, but it is probably thirty to thirty-one days. Possibly the male assists in 

 incubation, as is the case in some other Tree Ducks, but nothing definite is known on 

 this point. 



Status. I have no specific information as to the present status of this species, but 

 Mr. Ashby writes me that it is never seen now in South Australia. I presume that 

 it has become exceedingly rare in New South Wales also, but I have no reason to sup- 

 pose that its numbers have greatly diminished in the interior or the northwest dis- 

 tricts. From a careful perusal of the literature one certainly gets the impression that 

 the species is still plentiful in the more inaccessible regions. During certain seasons 

 it is still frequently seen in some numbers in the poultry shops of Sydney (North, 

 1913). 



Enemies. Keartland (North, 1898) in writing of these birds, states that in north- 

 western Australia the natives " make sad havoc amongst their eggs." Considering the 

 excellence of the flesh I dare say they make away with large numbers of the adult 

 birds also. From a note of Robinson's (North, 1913) one is led to suppose that in 

 New South Wales the wild pigs and water-rats prove very destructive to this as well 

 as to other species of wild-fowl. 



