708 Mr. D. A. Baiinermau on the [Ibis, 



XXXII. — List of the Birds of the Canary Islands, tvith 

 detailed reference to the Migrator// Species and the Acci- 

 dental Visitors. Part IV. Anatid/E — Larid^. By David 

 A. Bannermax, M.B.E., B.A., M.B.O.U., F.R.G.S. 



[Continued from p. 495.] 



Family Anatid/E. 



Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos. The Mallard. 



Anas platy7'hijnchos Linn. Syst. Nat. lOtli ed. 1758, 

 p. 125 — Type locality : Sweden. 



The Mallard or Wild Duck is a somewhat irre«^ular Winter 

 Visitor, especially to Tenerif'e, and an occasional Bird of 

 Passage in spring. 



Webb and Berthelot considered it to be rare prior to 184^1, 

 appearing only after strong winter gales (Orn. Canarienne^ 

 p. 46). Bolle likewise found it a rare species (J. f". O. 1855, 

 p. 179), but notes that Berthelot shot one in the pools of 

 Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, which it especially loved to 

 frequent (J. f. O. 1857, p. 348). 



InTenerife the Wild Duck is plentiful in wet seasons, and 

 may be then found frequenting the overflowing ditches of the 

 Laguna plain. Such was the case in the winter of 1890-91 

 as recorded by INTeade-Waldo (Ibis, 1893, p. 199), and again 

 in the spring of 1901, when so much rain fell at Laguna 

 that small lakes were formed, reeds sprang up, and a regular 

 paradise existed for a short time, resorted to by ducks of 

 many kinds, amongst which the most numerous species was 

 according to \o\\ Thanner the Common Wild Duck (Nov. 

 Zool. xi. 1904. p. 431). 



It is unusual in ordinary years to find the Wild Duck in 

 the Canary Islands in any numbers, but usually afew appear 

 every year; if they arrive in dry weather they frequent 

 the water-tanks used for storing water. 



The Wild Duck is doubtless rarely seen in the eastern 

 Canary Islands, which are altogether too barren for their 

 taste. I'olat^.ek's notes (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, p. 132) that it 



