710 Mr. D. A. Bannerman on the [Ibis, 



p. 100) and believed it bred there, but he did not find a nest 

 nor did he get aiiy eggs. 1 obtained a speeimen myself in 

 the Charco on tlie 24th of February, 1912 (Ibis, 1912, 

 p. 586) ; while Major C. Smeed Avrites to me as follows : 

 '' On referring to my notes, I find it Avas a party of three 

 Marbled Ducks I flushed on two consecutive days from the 

 vegetation by the Charco at Maspalomas — the 19th and 

 20th March, 1914/' He was of opinion that they were 

 the same three birds. 



Range. The Marbled Duck is found in Spain and Portugal, 

 northern Africa south to the Canaiies, and extends east- 

 wards through Palestine, Persia, and the Caucasus to India, 

 apparently also in the Seychelles. 



Guerquedula crecca crecca. Common Teal. 



Anas crecca Linn. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, p. 126 — 

 Type locality : Sweden. 



The Common Teal is a Winter Visitor to many of the 

 islands. 



It is reported by von Thanner to have bred in Fuerte- 

 ventura on the strength of his having seen a young bird 

 near Gran Tarajal. This I am inclined to doubt, as the 

 evidence seems to me exceedingly weak (vide Orn. Jahrb. 

 1905, pp. 65, 66, et 1908, p. 213). It must, however, in 

 fairness to von Thanner be noted that the Teal has bred 

 in the Azores (Ibis, 1866, p. 102), and there is no apparent 

 reason why it should not do so in the Canary Islands. The 

 valley of Gran Tarajal is hardly the pUice where I siiould have 

 expected to find the Teal breeding even alter a wet winter. 

 Von Thanner also noted an adult male which he did not 

 obtain, as he hoped it might reuniin to breed, at Gran Tarajal 

 (Orn. Jahrb. 1908, p. 213). 



The Teal is recorded by most ornithologists who have 

 written on the birds of the Canary Islands. 



V^'^ebb and Berthelot mention the bird first, and saw a 

 specimen in the Canaries in February 1830 (Orn. Cana- 

 rienne, p. 46). Bolle records that (according to reliable 

 sportsmen) many used to be killed in the flooded fields 



