ANDAMAN TEAL 21 



on the Mekran coast are supposed to be those of this bird ; they 

 were taken on June 19. The certainly known eggs are cream 

 colour, as were these. The ordinary range of the species is 

 from the Canaries and Cape Verd Islands, along the Mediter- 

 ranean region, and through Western Asia, so that in range, as 

 well as colour, it rather recalls a sand-crrouse. 



Andaman Teal. 



* Nettitim albigulare. 



The Andaman teal, although not distinguished by Hume from 

 the Australasian oceanic teal (the real gihherifrons) has, with the 

 exception of a single specimen recorded from Burma, no doubt 

 a windblown straggler, been only found in the Andaman Islands. 



It would, however, be easily recognizable among our mainland 

 species, owing to its very dark brown colour, but little relieved 

 by the pale edgings to the feathers, and the conspicuous white 

 patch on the wing in front of the wing-bar, which marking is 

 black, green, and white, the two last colours forming narrow 

 central and bordering streaks respectively. Except in yearling 

 birds, there is a white ring round the eye, and some older 

 specimens have the feathers at the base of the beak, or even the 

 whole sides of the head and back of the neck white. This amount 

 of white colour takes some years to develop, and I have only seen 

 one bird wild killed showing it, but it has appeared sooner or 

 later in all captives I have watched, though those bred in captivity 

 are without even any white eye-ring at first; just like young wild 

 birds in fact. It remains to be seen whether this marking is 

 really becoming common among the wild stock from some cause 

 we are unaw^are of, or whether only captive birds get a chance to 

 live long enough to become white-headed, for that is what the 

 tame ones ultimately become, the brown being limited to the 

 centre of the crown. 



The Andaman teal resembles the small whistler in many of its 

 ways, being active on the water, a regular percher and a hght 



* Mareca gihherifrons on plate. 



