WHITE-HEADED SHELD-DEAKE. 
Tadorna radjobh ftindevsi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 86, 1912 ; Cooktown, 
Queensland. 
Eadjah radjaJi rufitergum Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 90, 1913. 
Disteibtjtion. North-west Australia ; Northern Territory ; Queensland. 
Adult male. Head and neck all round, breast and abdomen pure white, the breast crossed 
by a chestnut band of feathers which are narrowly barred with black ; upper 
back maroon-chestnut with narrow black bars, the black increasing in extent on 
the scapulars where the chestnut becomes obsolete ; lower back, rump, upper tail- 
coverts, and tail uniform black ; lesser, median, and greater upper wing-coverts 
pure white, the latter series with a narrow subterminal black band ; bastard-wing, 
primary-coverts, and quills uniform black ; secondary-quiUs white, broadly banded 
with metaUic green on the outer webs, the innermost secondaries black with a large 
median patch of maroon-chestnut on the outer webs. Bill white with a flesh-colour 
tinge ; iris white, eye-lash yellow ; tarsi and feet white tinged with flesh-colour. 
Total length 540 mm. ; culmen 46, wing 284, tail 107, tarsus 61. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male but smaller. Total length 505 mm. ; 
culmen 44, wing 267, tail 101, tarsus 59. 
An immature bird, from Cooktown, differs in that the barring on the back is 
continued up to the white on the hind-neck. 
Nest. “ Within a hole or hollow spout of a tree, not necessarily near water.” “ In a 
hollow in a tree ” (Le Souef). 
Eggs. “ Clutch, probably about ten ; texture of shell fine ; surface smooth ; colour rich 
creamy- white. Dimensions in inches : 2.13-2.2 X 1.58-1.63 ” (North). 
“ Clutch, four to eleven. Very light in colour, being of a very pale eream ; smooth 
and slightly glossy. Measurements in inches : 2,28-2.41 X 1.55-1.68 ” (Le Souef). 
Breeding-season. December, January (Ramsay) ; February, April, May (Le Souef). 
The life-history of this beautiful bird appears to be unknown. I have 
no notes from any of my correspondents, and Gould’s notes, made seventy 
odd years ago, which I here transcribe, sum up our present knowledge : 
“ This beautiful Shieldrake is found in numerous flocks on all the lakes 
and swamps of the northern and eastern portions of Australia ; like the 
other members of the genus, it frequently perches on trees and resorts to 
the hollow branches and boles for the purpose of breeding, the young being 
removed to the water by their parents immediately after they are hatfehed. 
When the rainy season has set in, and the water of the lakes has become 
too deep for them to reach the roots of a species of rush upon which 
they feed, they scatter over the face of the country, and are then to be 
seen wading through the mangrove bushes and over the soft mud left by 
the receding tide, the surface of which affords an abundant supply of food, 
consisting of crabs, mollusks and other marine animals. The sexes present 
no visible difference i i their colour or markings, nor is there a sufficient 
difference in size to distinguish the male from the female.” 
Ramsay {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 346) recorded under the name 
Tadorna radjali : “I found this fine Wood-Duck breeding in holes in the 
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