90 NESONETTA AUCKLANDICA 



GENERAL 



Very little indeed is known of the "Flightless Ducks" of the Auckland Islands. 

 They inhabit the coasts of the islands and have usually been seen running about on 

 the masses of brown seaweed or kelp, or climbing over the slippery rocks (Hutton 

 and Drummond, 1905). They have, however, also been met with high up on the 

 hillsides, along the water-courses (Waite, 1909). 



Although called " flightless " it seems that these ducks have not yet entirely lost 

 the power of flight. It is true that when pursued they make no attempt to use the 

 wings, nor do they dive; instead they scurry away over the rocks (Hutton and Drum- 

 mond, 1905). But Waite (1909) quotes a Captain Bollons as saying that they are 

 able to fly for short distances, and that they reach the nesting places on the rocks in 

 this manner. The Captain told him that he had "often seen the ducks rise at the 

 foot of the cliff and by aid of the wings alone plump straight into the holes." Buller 

 (1905) says that those who have seen them in the native state say that they perform 

 a fluttering flight for a few yards along the surface of the water. 



No doubt their perching and climbing powers are of great assistance to them in 

 moving about on the rocks. Live specimens taken from the islands to New Zealand 

 were placed in a cage with perches, and the birds readily availed themselves of these, 

 perching almost as well as a true passerine (Waite, 1909). In regard to climbing, 

 Buller (1905) tells of a pair which he obtained and planned to send to Europe. He 

 placed them in a wire enclosure over three feet high. They immediately began to 

 scale the upright netting and the male succeeded in getting over. Buller considers 

 them semi-nocturnal in their habits, the male in question regularly climbing out 

 of the enclosure in the morning and climbing in again at night in order to feed. This 

 continued for about ten days, after which the birds were shipped to London. 



Of its voice and feeding habits nothing appears to be known, and for the only note 

 about nesting habits I am indebted to Waite's account. He states that Captain 

 Bollons told him the following: "The eggs are laid in holes fifteen feet or twenty feet 

 above sea level, excavations made by petrels being possibly utilized. As these 

 holes are sometimes made in the face of a cliff, a mere walking bird would be unable 

 to reach them. . . . Even by means of a ladder, he himself [Captain Bollons] has 

 been unable to reach the nests." The size of the clutch and the color and measure- 

 ments of the eggs, in fact the breeding season itself, are all unknown. 



Attempts have been made to introduce this species into New Zealand. Buller (1905) 

 set out a pair on Papaitonga Lake in the hope that they might breed. Whether or 

 not he ever saw them again I do not know. Others were set out in the sanctuary on 

 Kapiti Island near Wellington in 1907 and were seen there in the following year by 

 Drummond (1909). Waite evidently refers to the same place when he speaks of the 

 sanctuary in Cook Strait. 



