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 grass- 

 padded 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 Sep- 

 tember 24 and 25 several mated pairs of these small teal were ob- 

 served 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. 



