296 The Baikal or Japanese Teal.


THE BAIKAL OR JAPANESE TEAL


(Nettium formosumj .

By Hugh Wormald.


In a family in which all the male birds are conspicuous for

their handsome markings, the Baikal Teal is in my opinion the

most beautiful species, though perhaps closely rivalled by the

Falcated Teal.


Owing to its rarity and consequent high price, it is seldom

seen in captivity in this country, and as some of our members

may never have seen an example, it may be as well to describe

roughly its leading characteristics.


In size it is half as large again as the Common Teal

(Neltio?i creccd) and sits high in the water. The bill is black ;

the top of the head is brown with lighter and darker markings,

but at a little distance it appears to be a uniform dark brown. A

light streak extends from the bill, passing above the eye and

meeting in a point at the back of the head. The cheeks are

divided up into stripes of metallic green which appear quite

bronze in some lights, the feathers between these stripes being

cream-coloured.


The breast is rather pinker than a Widgeon's, with black

spots : the sides are bluer than in the Common Teal, and the

pencillings are smaller and less noticeable ; there is a crescent-

shaped patch of white just below the shoulder, but the most

noticeable features are the beautiful elongated scapular feathers,

dark chestnut on the outside, black in the centre, and light

creamish brown on the inside; these feathers hang down so as to

touch the water when the bird is swimming, giving it a very

curious appearance when viewed directly from behind. The

back is brown with lighter and darker markings ; tail brown,

under tail coverts black, with a small splash of chestnut at the

base of the tail.


The duck is rather richer in colouring than the Common

Teal, and has a cream patch on either side of the head at the

base of the bill.


I had never seen a living example of this species till last

August, when I saw a pair at an Agricultural Show in Stafford-

shire, the drake of course being then in eclipse plumage. On



