Oebeb ANSEEES.] 
[Fam. ANATID^. 
NYEOOA AFSTEALIS. 
(WHITE-EYED DUCK.) 
Nyroca australis, Gould in Eyton’s Monogr. Anat. p. 160 (1838). 
AytJiya australis. Gray, Hand-1, of B. iii. p. 86 (1871). 
Native name. — Karakahia. 
Ad. supra brunneus, tectricibus alarum magis cinerascentibus : remigibus brunueis, extus et versus apicem nigri- 
cantibus, minimis extus albis nigro terminatis, fasciam alarem conspicuam form antibus ; caud^ brunneA : 
pileo et collo undique cum pectore superiore saturate castaneis : corpore reliquo subtiis albo, bypochondriis 
cum abdomine imo et crisso sordide castaneis : subcaudalibus et subalaribus albis : rostro nigro, versus 
apicem cinereo transfasciato : pedibus saturate brunneis : iride alba. 
Adult male. The general plumage is dark chestnut -brown, paler on the flanks, and deepening to castaneous on 
the head and nape, where the feathers have a beautiful silky lustre ; a broad band of brownish white crosses 
the underparts ; the under tail-coverts, likewise, are white, and on the sides of the rump there are faint 
spots of greyish white, speckled with brown ; quills dark brown ; primaries in their middle portion, and the 
secondaries towards the base, pure white, forming together, in the opened wing, a conspicuous bar, and 
exhibiting in the closed wing a diagonal triangular spot. Irides whiter bill black, with a band of bluish 
grev near the tip, not including the nail, however, which is black, prominent, and of tbe shape of the human 
finger-nail ; feet dark leaden brown. Length 19 inches ; wing, from flexure, 8 ; tail 3 ; bill, along the 
ridge 3, along the edge of lower mandible 2-25; tarsus Lb; middle toe and claw 2'4; hind toe and claw -6. 
Female. Eather smaller than the male and with the plumage duller. 
Young male. Has the chestnut-brown plumage much lighter, and the feathers of the back margined with pale 
brown; it has also less gloss on the head, and the brownish white of the underparts mottled with brown. 
The existence of this well-known Australian Duck in our country was first ascertained by Captain 
Hutton, who, in 1869, sent me a specimen for determination. He furnished at the same time the 
following notes : — “ I first noticed this bird about two years ago, on the Whangape lake, Lower 
Waikato, and since on the Waikare lake, where it was abundant in March 1868. On the lakes 
of the Lower W^aikato it is not uncommon, but is so w'ary that, as yet, I have only been able to 
obtain three specimens, the first of which was kindly procured for me by Mr. A. M. Sheppard of 
Ahiruna. This bird is known to the natives both of Tarawera and Waikato by the name of Kara- 
kahia. Like all the Pochards, it frequents the lakes only, and is rarely, if ever, seen in the rivers 
and creeks.” 
It has since been found on Lake Ellesmere, in the South Island ; and the Canterbury Museum 
contains several fine specimens from that locality. 
In Australia and Tasmania it appears to be thinly distributed, frequenting quiet reaches of 
rivers (where the water runs slowly), bays and inlets of the sea, and freshwater lagoons. 
Shortly before leaving the Colony I observed one, on the wing, in Te Ante Lake in the Hawke s 
Bay district. 
2n 2 
