LOGGERHEAD DUCK 
9 i 
Most of day dissecting Loggerhead Duck. 1 Evening, 
Spanish. 
June iy , Monday . Blustery night, and snow nearly melted. 
Wind north-west. No sun all day; very bleak and dreary 
and ‘black and white’. Loggerhead duck till 2 p.m. Walk 
to middens on point. Large number of Kelp Geese ranged 
round the shore lines. White ganders very conspicuous; 
dark females always there, but mostly invisible in distance. 
Some six or eight Kimango birds put in their appearance, 
due to bodies of seals lying about for dog’s food. Evening 
writing. 
June j 5 , Tuesday . Mild day, and snow mostly gone. 
Tussocks of moss and turf unfrozen, and getting soft. 
Found ‘moth’ in otter tails belonging to Ken. Ken stretching 
skins of ‘hair-seal’ on frames. Skin then carefully scraped. 
All day dissecting wing of loggerhead duck till 5 p.m. 
Eighteen Chimango birds in paddock close to house, at¬ 
tracted by body of loggerhead thrown out. Fine bright warm 
afternoon. Bright sunlight, but sun now rises only little way 
over hill on opposite side of Rio Douglas. Most of snow 
has melted. Clouded over in late afternoon, and light rain 
during evening. Are anxious for more because all tubs are 
empty, and water has had to be brought from little stream 
across the river. Wind north-west. 
June ig , Wednesday. Dush-ush getting very tame; come 
close up for crumbs. Always first to appear; blackbirds 
come much later in the day. The little ‘white breast’ has 
not been here for more than a week. Heavy snow again. 
1 From Miss Hamilton’s diary: For the last three days the Professor has been 
dissecting the logger-head duck in order to understand the functioning of the small 
wings by which it paddles so rapidly. He . . . has completely lost for the moment 
his usually sensitive nose, as the odour from this bird is simply dreadful. . .he leans 
over it working with the roughest of implements, [and] appears entirely unconscious 
of . . . the intense cold and bad light due to the heavy snowstorms which we have 
had throughout the day. He only consented to be dragged away when it was too 
dark for further w r ork. 
