GREEN GOOSE-TEAL. 
Anserdla pulchella Reichenow, Ornith. Centralbl. 1882, p. 22. 
Cheniscus pulchellus Mathews, List Birds Austral., p. 88, 1913 ; id., Ibis 1914, p. 107. 
Distribution. North-west Australia ; Northern Territory ; Queensland (New Guinea).^ 
Adult male. Crown of head greenish-black minutely barred with sandy buff ; neck all 
round, entire back, scapulars, and wings glossy bottle-green ; bastard-wing, 
primary-coverts, and primary-quills black ; secondaries for the most part white, 
some of the outer ones margined with glossy black at the tips, and some of the 
inner ones black on the inner webs towards the base, the long innermost second- 
aries like the back more or less fringed with black ; the upper tail-coverts minutely 
speckled with white ; tail black with a slight tinge of green on the outer webs of 
the feathers ; a narrow line at the base of the fore-head, loral space, sides of face, 
ear-coverts, and chin pure white ; upper throat and fore-part of cheeks inter- 
mixed with black ; the feathers on the lower fore-neck and sides of breast barred* 
with green and white ; lower flanks longitudinally marked with green and white or 
brown and white ; the short outer under tail-coverts barred with brown and white, 
the remainder blackish like the under- surface of the tail ; breast and abdomen 
white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts dark glossy-green. Bill : nail of upper 
and the whole of the lower mandible flesh-colour, base of lower and balance of 
upper mandible black ; iris brown ; tarsi and feet black. Total length 375 mm. ; 
culmen 26, wing 168, tail 70, tarsus 26. 'j 
Adult female. Differs from the adult male by having the fore-part of the neck barred with 
white instead of being uniform green, loral space and sides of face minutely speckled 
with black, a fairly well-marked superciliary streak, the crown of the head uniform 
glossy-brown, and the under tail-eoverts brown instead of black. BiU : nail leaden 
grey, upper mandible brown, lower mandible pale brown ; iris brown ; tarsi and 
feet leaden colour. Total length 375 mm. ; culmen 25, wing 172, tail 70, 
tarsus 25. 
Immature male. Almost uniform on the crown of the head, with the slightest indication 
of a superciliary streak, and dark spots on the sides of the face and a mixture of 
white on the fore-neck. 
Younger birds have a more pronounced superciliary streak, a narrow white 
collar separating the crown from the hind-neck, the feathers on the lower flanlrs 
marked longitudinally with brown and white lines, the sides of the face white 
with small brown dots which become much coarser on the fore-neck — ^resembling 
the female in this respect. 
Nestling. Head black ; a white band from the side of the neck round the back of the 
head ; baek brown, getting darker towards the tail which is black ; on ^he wings 
a white bar ; under-surface white ; fore-head and a line over each eye white like 
the lores and face ; a dark streak extends from the bill through the eye, getting 
broader after passing the eye and going back. 
N est. ‘‘ Constructed of long dry grasses, the slight cavity for the eggs being sometimes 
lined with feathers and down ; usually resting upon the surface of the water a nong 
the herbage of a swamp or lagoon. Possibly the eggs are occasionally deposited in 
hoUow trees ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. “ Blunt ellipses in form and faint creamy -white in colour, the shell being very 
smooth, lustrous and more or less nest stained, two of the specimens so much so 
that they are of a uniform light brown. Measurements in inches : 1.69-1.75 X 
1.331.36 (North) ; 38-40.5 X 29-29.5 mm.” (Hill). 
Brewing-season, February and March (North). 
39 
