124 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
plainer coloured, having the sides of the face speckled 
with white and the abdomen and under tail coverts 
white. 
WHISTLING DUCK 
Dendrocygna javanica gouldi 
From other Ducks the Whistling Teal, as it is called 
in Connewarre, is at once distinguishable by the 
elongated plumage on its flanks, the feathers being 
buffy-white in the centre with black margins. The 
name has been given because of the bird's loud 
whistling note, and not from the sound of its wings in 
flight ; though it has been observed that in flying 
over a swamp Whistling Ducks sometimes bunch so 
closely together that their wings strike with a clattering 
noise. 
It is quite a rare bird in this district. Mr. Mulder 
met with but three in a lifetime's experience. One 
was in the collection of the late Mr. Keeble, taxider- 
mist ; another was shot on the Connewarre Lakes. 
The third he himself shot on Fyans' Swamp, near 
Prince's Bridge. It was a cloudy night, and Ducks 
were coming in from time to time, dropping down 
with a " swish " into the still water. As one came 
close past him, Mr. Mulder fired, and the bird fell, 
but could not be found in the darkness. In the 
morning he went down early and discovered a fine 
specimen of this beautiful Duck — minus its head. 
A water-rat had been earlier astir than the sportsman. 
