THE



23



Avicultural Magazine,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



Third Series . — Vol. IV. — No 1 — All rights reserved. NOVEMBER, 1912.



THE RING-NECKED TEAL.


Nettium torquatum.


By D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S.


If the Teal are the most beautiful of the clucks, the Bing-

necked Teal may I think he said to be the most beautiful of all

the Teal, at any rate it is surpassed in beauty by none of the many

species that have been imported alive.


The first living specimen I ever saw was a male in Herr

Blaauw’s collection in Holland about three years ago, and I was

immensely struck with its beauty. More recently I leave seen

single specimens, all males, in the Zoological Gai^lens of Berlin

and Cologne. 1 was told that some few years ago some half dozen

specimens, all males, were imported into Germany. It appears,

however, that at least one female reached that country, for last

year a few pairs were offered for sale, all of which, I ascertained,

had been bred in Germany. This year others have been offered

from the same source I imagine.


I had the good fortune to be able to secure a pair of these

little Teal on behalf of the Zoological Society last year, and then

for the first time saw the female, a very beautiful little duck, though

without the brilliant colouring of her mate. The pair have not bred,

which is perhaps not surprising their first year, as ducks generally

like some little time to settle down before making any serious

attempts at nesting.


The Bing-necked Teal inhabits Paraquay and Argentina,

but appears to be a very local species, nowhere very abundant.



