110 WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA, 
been found in August ; it was made of grass and placed 
on the ground ; the egg is cream-coloured and smooth. 
The Oceanic Teal. 
Nettium gibberifrons, SALVADORI, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, 
Vole XOxXv Lip: 525 5- 
This Teal with which the Andaman Teal was formerly con. 
fused, is a widely-ranging species, found through the islands 
from Java to Australia and New Zealand. It has a close general 
resemblance to the Andaman Teal, but has a more speckled head, 
no white eye-ring at any age, and no white border to the first 
secondary quill. It lays about a dozen creamy-white eggs in 
holes in trees. In Australia there is another race or species 
(Nettium castaneum) in which, while the female is like both sexes 
of the sombrely coloured Oceanic Teal, the male has a very 
distinct plumage, the head being dark glossy-green, and the breast 
and flanks bay with black spots. This form has been known to 
stray to Java, so deserves mention here. 
