NEW ZEALAND or PARADISE SHELDRAKE 253 



Voice. The note is widely different from that of the Ruddy Sheldrake, and is 

 even more dissimilar in the two sexes than in the case of the latter species. The 

 male's voice is low and grunting, which may be due to the existence of a modifica- 

 tion in the trachea. The plumage of the two sexes is so highly differentiated that a 

 large tracheal bulb may be looked for in the male. Unfortunately there is no avail- 

 able information on this point. Buller (1888) speaks of the male's note as a prolonged 

 guttural utterance, represented by the syllables tuk-o-o-o, with head bent down. 

 The call-note, according to Heinroth (1911), is a nasal sn, which though not loud, is 

 audible during flight, for as great, or greater distance than the call of the Ruddy 

 Sheldrake. The call of the male when provoked has been described as a hiss, like 

 that of the gander (Buller, 1905), or as a deep nasal sruck (Heinroth, 1911). 



The notes of the female have in general a complaining sound. When excited she 

 utters a very long, nasal, complaining ja, repeated to the point of irritation. The 

 call-note is very similar, and when uttered loudly sounds more snappy, like cha. In 

 addition there is a complicated note employed by the female when hounding the 

 male against an opponent. This and other modifications of the voice in both sexes 

 have been admirably described by Heinroth (1911). 



Food. The diet is probably more vegetable than animal, at least during certain 

 seasons of the year, but no information is available beyond the remarks of Travers 

 (1872) and Buller (1888) that it feeds on grass and herbage, rather than on fish or 

 other animal food. The young are said to eat only a little grass and to depend on 

 animal food such as mysis, sand-hoppers, shrimps and other animals which they 

 pick up at low tide on the shore (Henry, Emu, vol. 6, p. 171, 1907). 



Couetship and Nesting. The nesting season, as is usual in south temperate 

 regions, varies more widely than in the north, where the seasons are more sharply 

 defined. According to Travers (1872) the Paradise Ducks breed from October to 

 January, but there is at least one record of earlier breeding, namely, the last week 

 in September (Henry, Emu, vol. 6, p. 171, 1907). The former writer mentions hav- 

 ing seen two broods of different ages with the -same parents, but I think it hardly 

 likely that this is at all a common occurrence. The display is apparently like that 

 of the Ruddy Sheldrake, consisting of the dipping movements characteristic of the 

 geese. The postlude also resembles that of the latter. 



It is an interesting fact that the female is very forward, very active and very 

 amatory, while the male assumes a rather passive role. Taken in connection with 

 the fact that the young resemble the male, and that the female plumage is so differ- 

 ent and perhaps the result of more recent specialization, the relation of the sexes 

 would well repay further investigation. The mating takes place on land, or occasion- 

 ally in shallow water (Heinroth, 1911). All Sheldrakes are prodigious fighters, at 



