26 BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF EAST SIBERIA [^vbf.' V^" 



Nettion formosum (Georgi.). 



Nine adults, of both sexes, and several clutches of eggs, were 

 taken at Nijni Kolymsk, May 31 to June 18, 1912. 



The Baikal teal was the most abundant fresh-water duck of the 

 forested regions of the Kolyma, outside of which it seldom was seen. 

 It arrived on May 31, and at once went to work breeding. On 

 June 7 an egg nearly ready for laying was taken from the oviduct 

 of a female. On June 19 a set of six fresh eggs was taken. The 

 nest was placed under the drooping branch of a larch. Another 

 nest, found June 22, was placed in a patch of creeping willow on a 

 grassy hillside at the edge of the forest. Still another nest, dis- 

 covered June 27, on an island in the Delta of the Kolyma, was 

 beautifully concealed in a heap of drift-wood. In habits and be- 

 havior the birds closely resembled the common teal. The male 

 has a soft call-note, that sounds like ' rut, rut, rut.' 



Spatula clypeata (Linn.). 



An adult male shoveller was taken at Nijni Kolymsk, June 4, 

 1912. It evidently was only a stray visitor, as it was the only one 

 seen, and none of the natives to whom Mr. Koren showed the speci- 

 men, knew the bird. 



Dafila acuta (Linn.). 



The pintail was very common at the Kolyma, arriving on May 

 22, 1912. No nests were found, but at Chaun Bay, on a spit of 

 tundra, a few miles south of Cape Chelakhskai, a fully fledged 

 young bird was shot, Aug. 27, 1912. 



Marila marila (Linn.). 



Several specimens were secured, and the species was said 

 to be common within the forested areas of the Kolyma. No 



