134 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
reason far to seek, for, while there is little joy in the 
shooting of him, and less in the eating, the Musk 
Duck falls an easy prey to the fox as well as to the 
indiscriminate shooter, both of which nuisances have 
largely increased in the period referred to. But 
there are still many of the birds in the Lake, particu- 
larly in autumn, a season when one may also see 
flocks on the waters of Port Phillip, near the eastern 
shore. In the spring most of these probably return 
northward to breed in the swamps of Riverina. 
It has been sufficiently proved that they can fly well 
and strongly; but they travel chiefly at night, and 
for that reason are not often seen on these partial 
migrations, and, as every shooter knows, they never 
attempt to fly when discovered on a river, but merely 
flap or dive. 
The male is about as big again as the female, and 
he has a curious pouch, or lobe, beneath the bill, 
whose use has not been ascertained — at all events, 
it has nothing to do with the musky odour attaching 
to the bird, for of this the source lies in the two oil- 
glands at the base of the tail. I heard, in 191 1, of 
Musk Ducks laying in protected waters near Colac ; 
the eggs are three in number, and are, in proportion 
to the size of the bird, very large, much larger than 
any other of our Ducks' eggs. 
