CAPE BARREN GOOSE.
This bird is a native of South-east Australia and Tasmania, and remarkable for its short beak.
The Mergansers and Smews, to which reference has been made, differ markedly from all the ducks so far considered in the peculiar formation of the bill, which is relatively long and narrow, with its edges armed with sharp, tooth-like processes projecting backwards towards the back of the mouth. These processes are really only horny spines, and have no relation to teeth, although they are used, as teeth would be, for holding slippery prey, such as fish, which form the greater part of the diet of these birds.
So far, in all the ducks which we have considered, the male differs conspicuously from the female in plumage; but in the forms we are now about to describe both sexes are coloured alike.
The first is the Common Sheldrake, which seems to lie somewhere on the borderland between the Ducks and the Geese. It is a very beautiful bird, conspicuously marked with broad bands of orange-chestnut, white, and black. The beak being coral-red in colour, and further ornamented by a peculiar fleshy knob at its base, serves to set off the glossy bottle-green colour of the head and neck. As appears to be invariably the case where both sexes are coloured alike, the female builds her nest in a hole, generally a rabbit-burrow, whilst the young have a distinct livery, duller in tone than that of the parent. The female sheldrake breeds in Britain, and may be frequently seen at sea flying in small parties, which have been likened to a flock of butterflies.
The Geese include birds of somewhat conspicuous coloration, besides a considerable number of more subdued aspect. The sexes are distinguished by different names, the female being known as the Goose, the male as the Gander, whilst the young is the Gosling. As we have already mentioned, there is no hard-and-fast line to be drawn between the three sections of this group. The Ducks are connected by the Sheldrakes with the Geese, through the Spur-winged Goose, the Egyptian and Orinoco Geese, and certain other species which cannot be alluded to on this occasion.
Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea.
AUSTRALIAN PYGMY GOOSE.
The pygmy geese are expert divers.