BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 81 



newly hatched young on December 16. The head of an adult male, 

 discarded by some hunter, was found on the day following. At 

 Guamini, in this same region, I noted ten or a dozen cinnamon teal 

 on March 3, 1921, among them two males in full brown plumage. 

 Others were noted on March 4. On March 28 a female was observed 

 near Tunuyan, Mendoza. 



QUERQUEDULA VERSICOLOR VERSICOLOR (Vieillot) 



Anas versicolor Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 5, 1816, p. 109. 

 (Paraguay.) 



The gray teal was noted in numbers near Lavalle, Province of 

 Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 28 to November 9, 1920, but 

 was not observed elsewhere in the regions visited. At Los Yngleses 

 the birds were common in the caiiadones and were found in pairs 

 or in small flocks. They frequented shallow, open pools in the 

 marshes, and wdien flushed flew with swift darting flight rather low 

 over the rushes. Many times they were observed in passage over 

 the marsh, but never traveled at high altitudes in the air. On No- 

 vember 9 I encountered several flocks, each containing 8 or 10 males, 

 that apparently were banded together after having bred. These 

 remained separate from the mated birds, frequenting the water of 

 open pools, or standing on the shore of some pond or open marsh. 

 A female was taken October 28 and three others, a male and two 

 females, on October 31. 



From examination of a small series of these teal in the Unite(i 

 States National Museum, it appears that birds from the Straits of 

 Magellan may be separated as Querquedula versicolor fretensls 

 (King).^^ A bird sexed as a female but probably a male examined 

 from Gregory Bay differs from northern birds in larger size and 

 in bolder, heavier markings on the underparts, especially on the 

 abdomen. The bill in particular is long and heavy. The measure- 

 ments, in millimeters, of this specimen are as follows : Wing, 203.0 ; 

 tail, 75.5; culmen, 47.0; tarsus, 36.5. Specimens that represent true 

 versicolor have been examined from Paraguay, Province of Buenos 

 Aires, Argentina, and central Chile. The bill in these ranges froni 

 38.2 to 43 mm., the wing from 180.9 to 192.5 mm. The northward 

 range of the subspecies fretensis is at present uncertain. 



SPATULA PLATALEA (Vieillot) 



Anas platalea Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 5, 1816, p. 157. 

 (Paraguay.) 



A few males were noted November 8, 1920, near Lavalle, Buenos 

 Aires, in company with southern pintails recently arrived in migra- 

 ns Anas fretensis King, Proc. ZooL Soc. London, pt. 1, Jan. 6, 1831, p. 15. (Straits 

 of Magellan.) 



