260 
ANAS CASTANEA 
Hunt. The species is too scarce to be spoken of as a game bird, and should be 
protected by law, if such a thine were practical, which is doubtful. 
Beha\tor in Captivity. This is everywhere a rare species in confinement. It 
was procured by the London Gardens in 1870 (P. L. Sclater, 1880) but did not breed 
until recent years. Mr. D. Seth-Smith, Curator of Birds, has favored me with an 
account of his experiences with these Teal. In 1908 he brought home from Tasmania 
two pairs. One pair died soon after arrival, but the other pair has since bred freely, 
and the only fresh blood which has been introduced to keep up the stock was another 
typical red-breasted male from Tasmania. The young males all came into full 
plumage the first year and there has been no exception to this rule. A distinct 
seasonal eclipse is assumed by individual males, but Mr. Seth-Smith is a little un- 
certain whether this plumage is not sometimes “missed”; at least there was some 
irregularity about its assumption. Among English amateurs this species has, so far 
as I know, been bred only by Mr. Wormald and by Mr. St. Quintin. The latter 
reared a brood in 1918 which escaped (London Field, vol. 133, p. 12, 1919). Some 
of these nested when only one year old. 
On the Continent the Chestnut-breasted Teal was recorded as having bred in the 
Gardens at Tours as early as 1883 (Noenty, 1884). In recent years it has been 
several times bred and reared by Mr. Blaauw on his estate at Gooilust, Holland. 
He notes that the males assume the adult plumage when five or six months old, the 
first change being that the throat becomes black. The females acquire the spots on 
the under side at the same period. Mr. Blaauw (1916) does not consider the males 
as having exactly an eclipse plumage, but “they go back in colour a good deal after 
the breeding season, and, for a while, the bright colours are clouded over — even the 
white spots are less bright.” 
There is a beautiful pair of this species in the New York Gardens, but as far as 
I know they have never been bred in this country. 
Hybrids. Crosses are recorded between this species and the Brazilian Teal 
{Anas brasiliensis) (Poll, 1911), and with the Gray Teal (Anas gibberifrons) . This 
latter cross was made by Mr. Blaauw, who writes me that the result was “an inter- 
mediate thing.” The hybrid males have the chestnut breast only slightly developed 
and no glossy, purple-greenish heads like the pure male castanea. The white spots 
near the tail are clouded over. I think the results of this mating with the Gray 
Teal are very interesting, and good evidence, if any more was needed, that the two 
species are perfectly distinct. 
I saw specimens at Tring which came from Regents Park, the result of crossing 
this Teal with the Yellow-billed Teal (Anas flavirostris) . 
