This beautiful duck, the pride of Australian waters, is a bird of the finest plumage. He is called the Mountain Duck by the settlers, and may be more common in the hills than the low country, since he is seldom found in the latter district. This bird builds in a tree, and when the young are hatched, the male bird carries them in his bill down to the ground. Strange, whose name I have already mentioned, had an opportunity to watch two birds that had a brood of young in the hollow of a lofty tree on the Gawler; and after the male bird had deposited his charge, he went and secured the young, five in number, which he brought to me at Adelaide, but I could not, with every care, keep them alive more than a month. This bird is very large as a duck; his head and neck are a fine green in colour, and he has a white ring round his neck, as also a white band across his wings. It is not a good eating bird, however, as is often the case with the birds of finer plumage.
131. ANAS SUPERCILIOSA, GMEL.--The Wild Duck.
Unlike the preceding, this bird is one of the finest eating birds of Australia, being the wild duck of that continent. It is a fine bird in point of size, but cannot boast the plumage of our mallard. It is a bird of dark, almost black plumage, with a few glossy, green, secondary feathers, characteristic of the genus. It is spread over the whole of the interior, even to the north of the Stony Desert, but was there very wild, and kept out of our reach.
132. SPATULA RHYNCHOTIS.--Australian Shoveller.
Not quite so large as the wild duck, but extremely good eating. This bird is not common in the interior, and was only seen once or twice amongst other ducks. Its plumage is a dark brown, and it has a light dull blue band across the wing. It takes its name from its peculiar bill, and may be termed the Shoveler of Australia. The specimens we procured in the interior are precisely the same as those of the southern coast of the continent.
133. MALACORHYNCHUS MEMBRANACEUS.--Membrane Duck.
A beautiful duck, of delicate plumage, but little fit for the table. It is very common on most of the Australian creeks and streams, and is called the Whistling Duck. This duck is rather larger than our teal. It has a grey head, with a brown tinge, and is mottled in the breast something like the woodcock. Its eye is dark and clear, and it has a line of rose-pink running longitudinally behind it.
134. ANAS PUNCTATA, CUV.--Common Teal.
Somewhat larger than the English Teal, and equally good for the table. The plumage of this little bird is dark, like that of the wild duck, from which, in this respect, it hardly differs. It is the most numerous of the water birds of the interior, and was sure to be in greater or less numbers on any extensive waters we found. A pair had a brood on one of the ponds in the Depot Glen; but the whole were taken off by a kite, Milvus affinis, that watched them land and then flew at them. So long as they kept in the water they were safe, but on land soon fell a prey to the kite.
135. LEPTOTARSIS EYTONI, GOULD.--Eyton's Duck.