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and all the upper surface dark fuscous, each feather broadly margined with pale yellowish brown ; lowei 
sides of neck and upper part of breast dark fulvous brown, and the abdomen fulvous white, the feathers of 
these parts being largely centred with brown, and presenting on the surface a soft mottled appearance , long 
plumage covering the flanks dark brown, broadly edged with fulvous; surface of wings and tail as in the 
male; under tail-coverts brownish black, sometimes edged with rufous. Bill greyish brown; legs and 
feet pale yellowish brown. 
Young male. Head and neck as in the adult female ; there is no gloss on the crown, nor white circlet on the 
fore neck ; the lower part and sides of neck are dull ferruginous brown, each feather with a central round 
spot of darker brown in its apical portion ; breast and abdomen rufous white mixed with fulvous and 
obscurely spotted with brown; scapulars, as well as the long plumage covering the flanks, dark brown 
margined with fulvous, and showing little or no vermiculation ; under tail-coverts pak rufous, blotched with 
dark brown; in place of the white rump-spots a few feathers freckled brown and white. 
Nestling. Covered with thick, soft down, blackish brown with lighter markings on the upper surface ; chin and 
underparts yellowish brown. 
Varieties. In some examples of the male, the colour of the lower part of neck and breast deepens to a dark 
chestnut, and the abdomen is mottled and banded with pale fulvous on a dark brown ground ; while m 
others the white circlet is wanting, and the vermiculation on the upper parts is scarcely apparent. 
An albino form, the whole of the plumage being of a dull cream-colour, with obsolete markings, was 
shot in the Horowhenua Lake in June 1878. 
In the Colonial Museum there is a partial albino, the head, hind neck, shoulders, and upper sur ace 
of wings being varied with irregular patches of white. 
In the hands of the local taxidermist, Mr. Liardet, I saw two more (also from the Wairarapa) wit 
partially white heads, and at Wanganui I examined a specimen in which the whole of the head and nec , 
and a portion of the back, were pure white. 
Ohs. The example flgured in my Plate is a particularly flne male bird obtained in the Canterbury district, the 
skin of which is now in my collection Crown dark castaneous with greenish reflexions ; the rest of the 
head, as well as the nape, metallic or bronzy green ; a mark of fulvous white, a quarter of an inch wide in the 
middle, separating the dark brown of the upper fore neck from the rich castaneous colouring below; the 
feathers of the lower hind neck and shoulders more or less vermiculated with chestnut-brown; scapulars 
very prettily marked, being dark brown with a broad lunate spot of velvety black on the outer web, bordered 
along the inner edge with a line of fulvous brown, beyond which the webs are conspicuously vermiculated 
with chestnut-brown. 
The female is somewhat smaller than the male. In some specimens the large wing-coverts overlapping 
the speculum are broadly margined at the tips with pale mfous. 
Note Mr Eeischck brought from the West Coast Sounds some examples of an apparently smaller form of this 
Duck A pair of these (now in my collection), marked male and female, were shot together at night, at the 
mouth of a creek in Supper Cove. The male (in the “ young - plumage described above) gives the following 
measurements :-Total length 16-5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 7-25 ; tail 275 ; bill, along the ridge 1-5, 
along the edge of lower mandible 1-75 ; tarsus 1-25 ; middle toe and claw 1-9. The female is smaller, the 
wing from flexure being only 7 inehes. 
Some confusion has hitherto existed regarding this species, owing to the difterences of plumage 
exhibited by the male, female, and young; hut I trust that the above exhaustive account will 
sufficiently clear up the difficulty. I have shot birds in the various states of plumage described above, 
and have determined the question of sex by careful dissection. 
This elegant little Duck is distributed all over the country, being met with in every inland lake, 
and often in the deep freshwater streams which run into them, where the overhanging vegetation 
affords ready shelter and concealment. Being a nocturnal feeder, it is not so commonly seen as the 
