NETTION ALBIGULARE 213 



It may, of course, eventually turn out that the Andaman Teal, like 

 the whistling teal, make their nests sometimes on the ground and 

 sometimes on trees. 



Home eggs in my collection, also taken by Mr. Osmaston from a 

 nest in a very high dead tree, are similar to those described above, 

 but they are a very pure creamy-white and have a distinct gloss. 



General Habits. — There is very little on record about this teal, 

 and it is to be hoped that observers will soon add to our knowledge 

 of it. 



By far the most important note on its habits is that contributed 

 by Mr. A. L. Butler to the B.N.H.S. Journal. So interesting is this 

 note that I feel that there is no apology needed, except to Mr. Butler, 

 for again producing it here, nor would any account of the Andaman 

 Teal be up-to-date were it omitted : — 



" When I arrived at Port Blair in May, these teal were iu good- 

 sized flocks, resorting principally, at low tide, to two little rocky- 

 islets up the harbour, known as Bird Island and Oyster Island. I 

 did not go after them at that time myself, not having a boat ; but a 

 fair, though not large, number were killed by some of the officers 

 stationed here. I believe eleven was the result of four barrels on one 

 occasion ! As the monsoon commenced, and the harbour became 

 rougher at the beginning of .June, these flocks of teal broke up into 

 smaller parties of five or six to a dozen or so, and retired to the 

 creeks and dyke-intersected marshes, a little inland, near Bamboo 

 Flat and Port Mouat. Towards the end of June these small parties 

 began to break up into pairs ; about this time I shot several, and iu 

 the paired birds I found the testes of the males enlarged, but the 

 ovaries of the females were as yet in ordinary condition. In the 

 ' Game-birds of India ' Mr. Hume mentions a single nest found in 

 August, and I should think that August or the end of July would be 

 the usual time of laying. I am afraid I am not likely to find a nest, 

 as there are so many hundreds of acres of suitable breeding-ground, 

 and the birds are comparatively few. 



" The Oceanic Teal feed a good deal in the paddy-fields at niglit ; 

 under cover of darkness, too, a few birds often drop into small tanks 

 at Aberdeen within a few yards of bungalows and buildings. When 

 in flocks they are very wild, but in pairs, in the small channels 

 among the marshes, I found them very tame. I have often been 

 able to creep up to the water's edge and watch a pair swimming 

 quietly about within ten yards of me for some time. On one 

 occasion I came right on to a j^air under an overiianging busli, and 

 they only fluttered, like water-hens, along the surface for twenty 



