THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 51 



on each side, from which this duck derives its name, is obsolescent 

 or absent in the present subspecies. 



The spotbill is about the size of a small mallard, and the sexes 

 are alike in plumage. It has the upperparts generally dark brown, 

 each feather edged with light gray -brown; the tail black; the under- 

 pays buffy white, spotted profusely everywhere (except on the neck) 

 with dark brown ; the speculum of the wing glossy green, edged in- 

 wardly by a narrow black bar followed by a rather broader bar of 

 white; the underwing with a large area of pure white at the base. 



ANAS QUERQUEDULA Linnaeus 



Eurasian Garganey 



[Anas] Querquedula Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 126 

 ("in Europae aquis dulcibus" ; type locality restricted to Sweden, apud 

 Hartert). 



Querquedula querquedula, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, p. 75 

 (Chiang Mai). 



This teal occurs regularly at Chiang Mai in small numbers between 

 October 24 (1931) and February 20 (1936), and I have specimens 

 from there and from Lamphun. It will without doubt be found 

 eventually in all our provinces. 



It settles even at quite small marshes, where the water may be 

 completely hidden by floating plants. In such places it remains 

 motionless and invisible until one is almost upon it, when the flock 

 will burst into the air at great speed. It is one of the fastest fliers 

 among the ducks. 



My examples had the irides bright brown; the maxilla slaty, be- 

 coming plumbeous-blue on the basal half ; the mandible violet, tipped 

 brownish slate; the rictus and edges of the commissure plumbeous- 

 blue ; the interior of the mouth bluish white ; the feet and toes plum- 

 beous-blue, with the webs slaty ; the claws horny slate. 



The old male has the crown and nape glossy black, bordered hy a 

 broad white stripe above the eye; the neck and sides of the head choco- 

 late, narrowly streaked everywhere with white ; the upperparts black- 

 ish brown, each feather margined with pale brown; the chin black; 

 the entire breast light brown, thickly marked with wavy blackish 

 bars ; the abdomen white ; the speculum glossy green, edged above and 

 below by white bars; a large shoulder patch blue-gray. The female 

 lacks the broad superciliary stripe and the conspicuous markings of 

 the breast; she has the blue-gray of the shoulder duller in color and 

 the speculum almost unglossed. Immature males, which are common 

 in Thailand, resemble the female but have brighter colors on the 

 wing. 



