262 CASARCA TADORNOIDES 



purely accidental. On Lake Albert they were seen feeding in the company of various 

 kinds of ducks as well as Pelicans, Spoonbills, Cranes, etc. (White, fide Mathews, 

 1914-15). 



Voice. The call-note has been described as a deep honck or chank, uttered twice, 

 and resembling the call of a goose; there is a second note often uttered by the male 

 while on the ground, sounding like the syllables chick-hunke or chickooke, the o's be- 

 ing sounded softly and the note being made with outstretched neck, and with the head 

 near the ground (MeWor, fide Mathews, 1914-15; W. H. D. LeSouef, 1907). The notes 

 of the sexes are very different, the female uttering loud gooselike cries while the 

 male has a low short grunting note. Heinroth (1911) describes the male's note as 

 resembling closely that of the Paradise Duck, but as even more grunting and without 

 the characteristic s sound. The female's voice he describes as less striking than 

 that of the female Paradise Duck. 



Food. No detailed analyses have been made of the stomach-contents in this 

 species, but it feeds on both animal and vegetable matter. Hall (Emu, vol. 9, p. 79, 

 1909) found them feeding on short mossy grasses, and White (Mathews, 1914-15) 

 saw them eating weeds in the shallows of Lake Albert. Christian (Mathews, 1914- 

 15) adds an interesting note as to their service in the counteracting of the cater- 

 pillar pest, and says that one year (1907), when grasshoppers were bad, they were 

 out on the plains "eating them as fast as they could." Gould (1865) describes their 

 diet as consisting of small fish, crustaceans and mollusks, which abound in the flats 

 and swampy places. 



Courtship and Nesting. This species seems to be by far the earliest of the 

 Australian ducks to breed, its eggs being obtainable in July and August. In south- 

 eastern Australia and in Tasmania, July to October are the months constituting 

 the regular breeding season (North, 1913). 



The only remarks on the courtship of the Mountain Duck are contained in Hein- 

 roth's (1911) long article on the psychology of the Anatidce. The display may con- 

 sist of a submerging act characteristic of the Common Sheldrake and described 

 under that species. But this is not the rule. The mating prelude is more often a mere 

 bowing of the head and neck. After pairing the male usually held his closed wings 

 over his back. 



The usual nesting site is undoubtedly in decayed portions of large trees, but open 

 marsh land has been mentioned (Hood, fide North, 1913). Rabbit-burrows have 

 been spoken of as occasional resorts (Mellor, fide Mathews, 1914-15; Sandland, 

 fide Mathews, 1914-15). Ramsay (fide North, 1913) speaks of a nest on the ground 

 beneath a mass of Polygonum bushes. When placed in a tree-trunk the nest is some- 



