MOUNTAIN DUCK. 
Mr. Sandland wrote; “Very rare visitor at Balah, South Australia, 
Fairly common round Burra. Have heard of several nests being taken on 
Koonoona Station. Occasionally nests down an old rabbit-burrow.” 
Mr. J. W. MeUor’s account reads : “ Known as the ‘ Mountain Duck ’ 
by the people, on account of the bird going back into the hills and 
often far from the low swampy land to carry on its breeding, although 
this is not always the case, as I have found them breeding close to 
the swamps, but even then high and dry on some elevated land. They 
often lay in hollows of trees, high up some large eucalypt, which has fallen 
into decay in places, and so left a large hole, in which the duck deposits 
her eggs, the clutch being from eight to a dozen, of large size and of 
a whitish, creamy colour, being well glossed on the surface like the general 
eggs of the duck family. I have also known them to lay in rabbit- 
burrows, where trees were not available. These birds I have seen 
breeding fairly well about Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, where they 
make their nests on the rising sandy soil, and beneath the long, over- 
hanging, spine-like leaves of the grass tree {XantJiorrhoea) which reach 
right to the ground, and so make a closed-in hollow ; the nest is lined 
with down plucked from the breast of the bird, and as soon as the young 
are hatched, they can run with remarkable rapidity and make off for 
water. The call of the Mountain Duck is somewhat peculiar, being a 
harsh ‘chank chank’ resembling that of a goose, uttered twice,* the call 
being made on the wing as well as on the ground, but while on the 
ground a second note will often be uttered by the drake resembling 
‘ chick-hunke ’ or ‘ chick-ooke ’ the o’s being sounded softly, the note being 
made with outstretched neck, and the head near the ground, the ‘ chick ’ 
being forced out sharply as through the nose, while the latter ‘ hunke ’ is 
more drawn out especially in the centre, and of a decidedly guttural 
tone, from the breast of the bird. They will stand being kept in captivity, 
but not in close confinement, as their nature is somewhat of a \ roving 
disposition, and they require open runs, with plenty of grass, etc., upon 
which they live to a certain extent, their diet being also composed of 
grain. They are not found in large flocks as a rule, preferring to go in 
small parties of six to a dozen, and when the breeding-season approaches 
they pair off and seek their nesting haunts in couples. This is during the 
months of August, September and October. In the early days they were 
plentiful about the reed-beds during the winter months, but now the 
advance of civilization has driven them away, as they are a timid bird, 
and easily frightened, being constantly on the watch night and day, as 
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