THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
will enable the fixation of the systematic position of these birds, but I 
note that Shufeldt, while comparing the anatomy of Cereopsis novcB- 
hollandicB with that of species of Chloeophagay does not lay much stress 
upon the relationship of the latter with Chenonetta, though he had bones 
supposed to belong to this genus before him. 
The subfamily AnatincB is divided by Salvadori into nineteen genera, 
of which nine include species of birds attributed to Australia. The first, 
Dendrocygna, covers the Tree-Ducks, which differ from all the rest of 
the Anatine genera in having the metatarsus reticulated throughout, 
while the others have a row of scutes in front. They differ superficially 
in other respects, and Shufeldt, having anatomically examined the species, 
has separated them into a distinct subfamily, Dendrocygninoe. This group 
has an extraordinary discontinuous distribution, and here again, while 
one of the species inhabiting Australia (there are two only) is simply a 
form of an Asiatic species, the other is peculiar to Australia, and is so 
well characterised that I have admitted it to be generically distinct. 
These Tree-Ducks are recognisable by their long necks and long legs 
with the exposed tibia. 
Salvadori included the species Anas mdjaJi in the genus Tadorna^ 
but this bird differs appreciably in form from the monotype of Tadorna, 
and I have admitted Reichenbach’s genus Radjah for it. This beautiful 
bird is confined to the Moluccas, Papuan Islands, and Northern Australia, 
the Australian breeding birds forming a well-marked subspecies. In the 
genus Casarca, proposed for the Ruddy Sheldrake of Europe, the finest 
Australian Duck is placed, and here, though a variation in coloration is 
seen from the type, the differences in coloration throughout the genus 
seem to be gradual, and such as one would anticipate might occur in 
a natural genus. There is no sudden colour change. In the genus 
Anas occurs the commonest Australian Duck, which very closely agrees 
with the common European Wild Duck, save that it never puts on a 
special winter plumage in the case of the male, but that sex is content 
all the year round with the sombre dress which in Europe is utilised 
for a short while only in summer, but which the female continuously 
wears. In structure throughout, the European and Australian birds 
accurately agree. 
In the genus Nettion Salvadori placed the Mareca castanea of Eyton, 
for which upon an anatomical peculiarity Newton had introduced the 
genus Virago. The species differs in colour and form from the type of 
Nettion much more than does the genus Querquedula which Salvadori 
admitted, and I have therefore reinstated Newton’s genus Virago. Two 
6 
