THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Austr. Mus, Spec. Cat., no. 1, Vol. IV., p. 94, 1913 (part) ; Orton and Sandland, 
Emu, Vol. XIII., p. 76, 1913 ; Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 94, 1913 (part). 
Oidemia {Hydrobates) lobatus Selby, Cat. Gen. Subgen. Aves, p. 47, 1840. 
Biziura lobata westralis Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 87, 1912 ; West Australia. 
Biziura lobata lobata Mathews, ib. 
Disteibftion. West Austraha. 
Adult male. General colour above blackish-brown barred with buff like the fore-neck 
and the sides of the body, the remainder of the under-surface a httle paler brown, 
wings similar in colour to the back but almost uniform ; crown of the head and 
the hind-neck glossy black with spine-like feathers on the fore-head ; axiUaries 
barred with pale brown and white ; quill-hning pale grey ; tail-feathers much 
stiffened, black in colour and lanceolate in form. BiU dark blue-grey ; eyes 
reddish-hazel ; legs and feet lead-grey. Total length 690 mm. ; culmen 40, 
wing 220, tail 106, tarsus 54. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male but smaller and having the crown of the head 
brown instead of black. Total length 490 mm. ; culmen 34, wing 185, tail 87, 
tarsus 41. 
Nestling-in-down. Sooty black on the entire upper-surface, throat and fore-neck ; 
breast and abdomen dull white. 
Having a series of twelve specimens of both male and female in my collection, 
I notice that there is a great difference in the size of the lobe which varies from 
three inches in the breeding bird to a quarter of an inch in non-breeding plumage. 
I observe, too, that the birds with the larger lobe are very dark below, whereas 
those with the smaller size are much greyer on the under-surface. I imagine, 
therefore, that the latter must be the winter plumage. 
Nest. A large structure somewhat similar to that of the Eastern bird. 
Eggs. Similar to those of the Eastern bird. 
This bird was figured and described by Shaw and Nodder in the Naturalists’ 
Miscellany, Vol. VIII., pi. 255, 1796, under the name Anas lobata, when they 
wrote : “ This curious species is a native of New Holland, and is about the 
size of a common Duck. The specimen is preserved in the British Museum, 
and was brought over by Mr. Archibald Menzies, who accompanied Captain 
Vancouver in his late voyage.” 
The latter sentence escaped my notice when I made up my Reference 
List ” and I there designated New South Wales as the type locality, as the 
majority of the earlier birds received from Australia came from that locality. 
A recent reference to the Naturalists’ Miscellany enabled me to rectify this 
error, as a slight knowledge of the history of the early Investigators was 
sufficient to show that this was wrong : Captain Vancouver never went to 
New South Wales but simply called at West Australia and went from there to 
New Zealand. 
I at once looked up Vancouver’s “ Voyage ” to see if any reference was 
made to this bird, and on p. 52 of Vol. I., 1798, I noted : “ October, 1791. 
King George Sound, West Australia. Though ducks were in great numbers. 
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