COMMON TEAL GARGANY. PINTAIL. 201 



Their eggs we have received on several occasions, from 

 different localities, in the counties of Meath and Kildare. 

 Some young which had been successfully reared under a do- 

 mestic hen, by a hawker of wild fowl in the city, exhibited a 

 most amusing appearance. On the entrance of any person 

 into the room, all paddled and scampered to the shelter of 

 several old hats, where other birds had been reared, and, 

 hiding themselves in the moss covering the bottom, they be- 

 lieved themselves sufficiently safe when the head was con- 

 cealed, forgetful that the body was observed paddling away 

 on the outside ; all the birds exhibiting a strange appearance 

 from their diminutive size, and the brightness of their rat- 

 like eye, whose young they appeared to resemble, more than 

 those of the elegant little teal. 



Indigenous. 



SPECIES 192 THE GARGANY. 



Anas circia. Linn. 

 Canard sarcelle d" etc. Ternm. 



THE GARGANY, similar in size to the teal, is another beauti- 

 fully plumaged duck, but one of the greatest rarity in its oc- 

 currence, seven or eight specimens being the utmost we can 

 reckon of its occurrence in our Fauna. 



Two specimens of the gargany have passed under our ob- 

 servation : one, an immature male, obtained in the vicinity of 

 Dublin during the autumn of 1850 ; and the other an adult 

 male, shot on the river Fergus, in the county of Clare, at 

 present in our own collection. 



Obtained only while migrating over Europe in its summer 

 migration to its northern breeding haunts, they are of con- 

 siderable rarity in that continent ; although, on the authority 

 of a taxidermist, of considerable practice on the Boulevard des 

 Italiens, in Paris, we were informed that it occurs in France 

 during summer, as he occasionally obtained specimens to " set 

 up" at that season ; and during some years it is not unfre- 

 quently exposed in the markets of the capital. 



Habitat Northern Africa. 



SPECIES 193 THE PINTAIL. 



Anas acuta. Linn. 

 Canard a longue queue. Temm. 



Sea Pheasant. Ladybird. 



THE PINTAIL, uniting grace and elegance of form with a sub- 

 dued and elegantly marked plumage, is not inferior in beauty 



