236 Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds


with the bird’s natural enemies destroyed, such as Falcons and the

huge native eels, which must have taken a large toll of young birds,

the position must be about balanced.


Unfortunately the Mallard has been introduced into New Zealand,

and the males, being a bigger and more aggressive bird than the

native birds, have purloined most of the female Grey Duck in the

districts where they are common in the South Island. The hybrids

being fertile it will only be a matter of a few years before there

are very few pure bred Grey Duck left.


I found this duck far more common in the South Island than in

the North, possibly because of the larger amount of water in the

South Island and the population being smaller.


On several small lakes which are privately owned and where

the owners fortunately protect bird life, these duck can be seen

in thousands when the shooting season opens, for few species of duck

are slow to show their appreciation where they are welcome. In

captivity these duck seem like most of the order, very intelligent.

I often wonder why duck with all their attributes are not more

widely kept, for few birds make more delightful pets and are

more easily kept than the smaller ornamental varieties.


In its habits it seems to differ very little from the Mallard, a bird

to which it is allied, except that it will at certain seasons frequent

woods and forests and also that it frequently builds its nest high

up in trees. It is stated that the young ones are carried down to

the water in the beaks of the parents. This seems much more likely

than the old-fashioned idea of the young being carried down on the

back.


This species fortunately seems very well established on orna¬

mental waters in this country, so that when there are no more pure

bred birds left in the wild state we shall still have them here.


The New Zealand Shoveller (Spatula rhynchotis)


I was unfamiliar with this species in a wild state, though in

certain parts I believe that it is not uncommon, but it is not so

generally distributed as many of the other species. It is certainly

the most handsome of the smaller native duck, but the adult



