FRECKLED DUCK 93 



In Queensland it is extremely rare; the only record I have come across is that of North (1913) who 

 received a specimen from Toowoomba. 



GENERAL HABITS 



This is not only the rarest but perhaps the most peculiar of all the peculiar Aus- 

 tralian ducks. It is certainly not closely related to any of the shoal-water ducks and 

 is particularly un-ducklike in its color scheme, besides lacking the wing-speculum. 

 The bill is very narrow, rather high at the base and considerably "dished"; that is, 

 it is markedly concave on the dorsal profile. Most extraordinary is the conformation 

 of the trachea, which is entirely different from that of any other duck. The tracheal 

 bulb seen in the males of all surface-feeding ducks is practically absent, and in its 

 place there is only a slight swelling at the bifurcation of the trachea. The trachea of 

 the female is simple and cylindrical throughout, but in the male there are two ex- 

 pansions, the lower one a little below the middle of the trachea and the upper one about 

 midway between the lower one and the pharynx. The lower one is the larger. In both 

 expansions the trachea is about doubled in diameter and compressed, so that when 

 viewed from the front they are not conspicuous (Ramsay, 1878 ; A. J. Campbell, 1899) . 



Practically nothing is known of the life-history of this bird. R. Hall (1909) de- 

 scribes it as "quiet, tame and sleepy" with a voice like "the grunt of a Berkshire 

 pig," but Mellor (in Mathews, 1914-15) speaks of it as a somewhat shy bird, not 

 easily stalked. Charles Barrett writes in a similar vein about some he saw at Eyre's 

 Peninsula, South Australia. He tells me that he has never heard the call-note but 

 that there is said to be another sound like the "mewing of a cat." 



C. F. Belcher relates (Birds of the District of Geelong, Victoria) that their habits 

 are eccentric. A little company of them will come down to the water after dusk, 

 pitching one here, one there, yards away from each other. Each individual will 

 remain for hours in the position it originally took up, not even feeding. A shooter 

 informed him that he once came on some Freckled Ducks on a Victorian Lake, sit- 

 ting in shaUow water, head under wing. He called out to startle them, then rattled 

 a board on his punt without result. At last he fired and killed one bird, when the 

 others flew off without haste. 



The few nests that have been found were in herbage or Polygonum bushes, about 

 two feet above the water, with a small platform by which to approach the nest. 

 They appear to be always on or near the ground. The clutch seems to number seven 

 eggs, which are thick ovals in form, smooth, highly lustrous and of a pale creamy- 

 brown color. More than seven have been reported. The average size of six eggs as 

 given by North (1913) is 61 by 44 mm. The breeding months in central New South 

 Wales are September, October, November. 



The Freckled Duck has never been imported alive into America or Europe. It has, 

 however, been kept in the Melbourne Zoological Gardens, though it has never bred 

 there, so Mr. D. Le Souef writes me. No hybrids have ever been recorded. 



