• Variegated Goose, Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. pt. 2, p. 441 (1785).

• Anas variegata, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 505 (1788, ex Lath.).

• Casarka castanea, Eyton, Monogr. Anat. p. 108, pl. 10 (1838).

• Casarca variegata, Gray, in Dieff. Trav. ii., App. p. 198 (1843).

• Anas cheneros, Forst. Descr. Anim. p. 92 (1844).

• Anser variegata, Ellman, Zool. 1861, p. 7471.

Native names.

Putangitangi; Putakitaki in the South Island; “Paradise Duck” of the colonists.

♂ pileo undique et cervice virescenti-nigerrimis: collo undique nigricante, ochraceo vermiculatim vario: dorso saturatè cinerascenti-fusco, plumis omnibus albido transvermiculatis, plumis castaneis absentibus: dorso postico nigricante obscurè albido transvermiculato: uropygio et supracaudalibus purpurascenti-nigris: remigibus nigris, minoribus extùs pulcherrimè viridibus, secundariis extùs lætè castaneis, intùs cinereis, versus apicem albo vermiculatis: caudâ nigrâ: corpore subtùs reliquo cinerascenti-fusco, albido transversim vermiculato: abdomine medio castaneo obscurè nigro transfasciato: eubalaribus albis, imis cinera-scentibus, marginalibus paullò nigricante vermiculatis: rostro plumbescenti-nigro: pedibus et iride nigris.

♀ mari dissimilis: suprà fuscus, plumis fulvescente vel albido transversim vermiculatis, quibusdam castaneis aut eodem modo vermiculatis vel omninò unicoloribus: dorso postico nigricante obscurè albido transvermiculato: dorso postico et uropygio, alis et caudâ ut in mari coloratis: pileo undique et cervice purè albis: corporesubtùs castaneo, plumis quibusdam nigricantibus fulvescente aut albido transvermiculatis: abdomine medio saturatè castaneo, nigro transfasciato: subcaudalibus lætiùs castaneis: subalaribus ut in mari coloratis.

Adult male. Head and greater portion of neck black, with bluish-green reflexions; neck below and fore part of breast rich dark brown, minutely spotted or freckled with pale rufous; back and scapulars, as well as the lower part of the breast, sides of the body and flanks black, mottled and marked with wavy lines or vermiculations of white; on the sides and flanks the vermiculation is very distinct, and adds much to the beauty of the plumage; the rest of the underparts dark rufous spotted and barred with black; under tail-coverts bright ferruginous with darker stains; the whole of the wing-coverts pure white; the primaries glossy black, lighter on their under surface; the lesser quills shining green on their exposed webs, dusky and margined with white on their inner, forming a large, bright speculum; the four inner secondaries have their outer webs rufous, becoming paler towards the tips, and their inner webs dark cinereous, freckled more or less with white. The contrast of colours described above gives the upper surface of the wings a very beautiful appearance when partially spread; the under surface or lining of the wings is pure white. Irides and bill black; legs greyish black. Total length 24 inches; extent of wings 47; wing, from flexure, 14·5 tail 6; bill, along the ridge 1·75, along the edge of lower mandible 2; tarsus 2·75; middle toe and claw 2·75; hind toe and claw ·6.

Obs. In some examples (probably immature birds) the middle tail-feathers are terminally margined with pale brown, and the lateral ones vermiculated at the tips with white.

Adult female. Head and greater portion of neck pure white; lower part of neck, breast, and sides of the body page break

SHELDRAKE OR PARADISE DUCK (MALE AND FEMALE)
CASARCA VARIEGATA.
(ONE-HALF NATURAL SIZE.)

page break page 265 bright ferruginous, with freckled margins, and varied more or less with brown; on the sides and long plumage overlapping the thighs numerous freckled vermiculations of brown and white; shoulders and mantle dark brown mixed with rufous, beautifully vermiculated with fulvous white and largely varied with ferruginous; middle portion of back minutely freckled with white; surface of wings precisely as in the male; rump and upper surface of tail glossy black; abdomen ferruginous largely mixed with dark brown, presenting a banded and mottled appearance; under tail-coverts paler ferruginous, freckled with black at the tips.

Young. In the young state the sexes are alike, the plumage resembling more nearly that of the adult male. Head and upper portion of neck sooty black, varied with light brown; lower portion of neck dark brown, with narrow transverse lines of rufous; the whole of the under surface blackish brown, mottled and barred with rufous, each feather narrowly margined with white; shoulders, back, and lower sides of the body black, with white freckles and vermiculations; wings as in the adult; rump and tail black; under tail-coverts pale ferruginous.

Progress towards maturity. Examples exhibit much individual variety in their progress towards maturity; this is especially the case with the female, the first indication of change being the appearance of irregular white feathers on the head and neck, which rapidly increase in number till the plumage of those parts becomes entirely white; and in a more advanced state the underparts are varied with scattered feathers of rufous in such a manner as to impart a very lively effect. Some specimens of the immature male are marked with rufous on the forehead and lores.

Nestling. Covered with soft down, for the most part pure white, but largely varied on the upper surface with brown; the cheeks, throat, fore neck, and all the under surface entirely white; the top and upper sides of the head, in a line with the eyes, the hind neck and shoulders, a broad mark down the back spreading on the tail, the anterior portion and tips of wings, and a broad patch on each flank, continued in a line over the thighs, dull umber-brown; bill and feet pale brown.

Obs. Younger males differ from the perfectly matured ones in having a tinge of brown about the head, and the feathers of the shoulders more or less margined with dull fulvous brown, presenting on the surface wavy lines.

In districts where it has been much molested it becomes exceedingly shy; and it is then impossible to shoot it except by stratagem. One bird appears to keep watch while its mate is feeding; and on the slightest alarm it sounds its note of warning, to which the other responds; and both then observe the strictest vigilance, taking wing on the first approach of danger. The call-notes of the two sexes differ remarkably: the drake, with his head bent downwards, utters a prolonged guttural note, tuk-o-o-o, tuk-o-o-o; and the duck, elevating her head, responds to her mate with a shrill call, like the high note of a clarionet.

Its habits resemble, in many respects, those of the Common Sheldrake of Europe (Casarca rutila); and, like that species, it subsists to a great extent on tender grasses and other succulent herbage. Its wings are armed at the flexure with a hard round knob, denuded of feathers, the use of which, in the economy of the bird, I have not yet been able to discover. During the moulting-season it is unable to fly, and, being a very indifferent diver, it is readily captured. Even when thus taken in an adult state it is easily domesticated, and it has been successfully introduced into England. It is to be seen, in all its beauty, on the artificial lake at Kew Gardens and on the ornamental waters of several private estates in various parts of the country; and it breeds in the Zoological Society’s Gardens in Regent’s Park. I have kept them in New Zealand, and found them easy to domesticate and very tractable. They require, however, constant access to a stream or pond of water; for if denied this privilege they become subject to attacks of cramp, which in the end prove fatal. On these occasions the bird entirely loses the use of its legs, and, lying flat on its breast, flaps the ground violently with its wings in apparent agony. When stationed years ago at Wanganui, as Resident Magistrate, I kept in my garden several pairs which had become perfectly tame. I ultimately presented them to Sir George Grey, and they were then removed to the island of Kawau, where, in the enjoyment of a larger amount of freedom, they soon commenced to breed.

On one occasion, when I was staying at Omahu, in the Hawke’s Bay district, the natives brought in a Paradise Duck, apparently in perfect health, but having only one wing, the other having been shot away at the junction at some former period, and the wound having then healed over.

The ingenuity with which the old birds decoy intruders away from the nest or young is very remarkable; and I have myself been so completely deceived by a Paradise Duck feigning a disabled wing, that I have followed it for a hundred yards or more, endeavouring to overtake it, before discovering the ruse it had so successfully practised. Mr. Travers refers to this subject, in a communication to the Wellington Philosophical Society ^†, in the following terms:—

All of our Plovers resort to similar expedients for the protection of their young, but some species appear to develop a greater degree of intelligence than others. For example, the Oyster-catcher, when in danger of molestation, has been known to bury its downy young in the soft sand, thus ensuring absolute concealment. Captain Mair assures me that he has witnessed this himself in the Bay of Plenty, and that, keeping his eye on the spot, he has actually scooped the young birds out with his hands.

Mr. Proctor Smith relates the following incident within his own experience at Otago:—“I have seen a drake of this species gallantly beat off a large Hawk from the duck I had wounded. On my reaching the scene of combat, the cunning drake feigned to be wounded, and limped away beyond gunshot, while the duck escaped by concealing herself in a large marsh close by.”

In selecting a breeding-place it displays some fastidiousness: generally speaking, the nest, rudely formed of dry grass, and deeply lined with feathers and down, is placed among the reeds and tussocks near the water’s edge; sometimes, however, it is situated on rising ground at a distance from its ordinary haunts; and in one instance, in the Upper Manawatu, I found a pair breeding in a small cavern in the face of a sandstone cliff overhanging the river^*. The eggs vary in number from five to nine; and occasionally there are more, Mr. J. D. Enys having met with a nest containing eleven; and subsequently, in the Upper Waimakariri with a brood of thirteen young birds. The largest brood I have met with myself numbered eight. The eggs are of a regular ovoid form, measuring 2·6 inches in length by 1·9 in breadth, perfectly smooth on the surface, and of a yellowish cream-colour. Others in my son’s collection are somewhat smaller, measuring 2·4 inches in length by 1·7 in breadth, and are of an almost invisible greenish-white tint.

In May 1866 Dr. Sclater reported to the Zoological Society that a pair of these birds had bred for the first time in the spring of the previous year in one of the small ponds in the Gardens. Five eggs were laid in one of the breeding-boxes about the second week in April and five young birds were hatched on the 15th May. One of the five died in the first downy plumage; and when about three months old the other four moulted into the first feather-dress, in which stage they were all alike, having the head and neck black. In the autumnal moult three of them threw off the black hood and assumed the characteristic white head of the female.