AUSTRALIAN SHOVELLER 35 



patiently in the water for his prey, which paddling along the water soon comes 

 into suitable position for the loop to be slipped over its neck. 



" In the hinterland of Princess Charlotte Bay, on the Palmer River, etc., ducks, 

 geese and similar game are all stalked and speared — usually with ordinary simple 

 point spear if on land, but commonly with a pronged one in water. In either case the 

 aboriginal covers his head with long grass, tied about near to its extremities into 

 something like a horse collar, the ends falling over on to the back of the wearer's 

 shoulder . . . viewed from the front the individual so concealed looks for all the 

 world like a tussock of grass floating down the stream, so slow and silent are his 

 movements. If ducks are being hunted out on the plains, the black does not 

 trouble about holding the leafy screen in front of him, but stalks his prey more or 

 less on all fours, under cover of any intervening bushes. On the Pennefather, Em- 

 bley and TuUy Rivers, ducks and geese may be knocked over with long thin switches, 

 both by day and by moonlight. The Pennefather natives, in addition, will build 

 special bush shelters in the lagoons, and hiding under cover will wait there for hours 

 for a favorable strike with their spears. In the neighborhood of the Laura River, 

 also at Cape Bedford and elsewhere, ducks can be caught by silently diving under 

 them in the water, and puUing them down." 



Behavior in Captivity. These birds have been kept in the Zoological Gardens 

 of Melbourne, but they never bred there (D. Le Souef, in litt.). They have never 

 been imported into Europe or America. 



Hybrids. A wild hybrid between this species and the Gray Teal {Anas gibberi- 

 frons) has been described by Zietz (1912). 



