Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

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78 BULLETIN 133;, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
mating flight similar to that of Nettion caroliriense or N. crecca. A
brood of newly-hatched young was reported but I did not see them.
As the parrot nests occupied by the teal are frequently from 15 to 25
meters from the earth there was considerable speculation as to how
the ducklings reached the ground. It may be supposed, however, that
they merely tumbled out, their slight weight and resilient bodies
being sufficient guarantee against injury from the fall to the grasspadded
carpet below.
Along the K.io Negro south of General Iloca, Territory of Rio
Negro, occasional birds were seen from November 27 to December 3.
They were still breeding here and were found in pairs in quiet side
channels bordered with heavy growths of willows. A single bird
was noted in company with the southern pintail {Dafila spinicauda)
near Carrasco, below Montevideo, Uruguay, on January 9, 1921. On
March 8 six were observed resting in shallow water near Guamini,
Province of Buenos Aires. Near Tunuyan, Mendoza, two were seen
March 25, and on March 28 one, apparently a flight bird from the
south, passed in company with pintails.
An adult male was taken October 30 and another November 9 at
Los Yngleses near Lavalle. Both birds were in full breeding plum-
age. Specimens from Chile and Argentina do not seem to differ
appreciably in size or coloration.
NETTION LEUCOPHRYS (Vieillot) ^*
Anas leucophrys Vielllot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 5, 1816, p. 156.
Paraguay.
Though it is probable that teal seen about open lagoons near Las
Palmas, Territory of Chaco, Argentina, at the end of July, 1920,
were the present species, the ring-necked teal was taken only in
the Paraguayan Chaco near Puerto Pinasco. On September 8 near
the ranch at Kilometer 80 west of Puerto Pinasco a flock of a dozen
passed me SAviftly to alight in a small channel that had been filled
by heavy rains a few hours before. Two that I secured were females,
both immature birds that had just attained full growth. On September
24 and 25 several mated pairs of these small teal were observed
at Laguna Wall, 200 kilometers west of the Rio Paraguay,
beyond the locality given above. All seen here were mated, and an
adult male taken September 25 was in breeding condition.
In habits the ring-necked teal is similar to related ducks. When
startled the birds spring into the air and dart away with swift direct
flight. On the wing the forepart of the head appears very light
while as the birds pass the flash of the white patch on the greater
coverts on the otherwise dark wing makes a good field mark. At
" See Oberholser, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 30, Mar. 31, 1917, p. 75, for
change in name for this species from the current H. torquatuni.