288 
ANAS PUNCTATA 
Adult Female: Similar to the male. Size slightly smaller. Color of soft parts the same. 
Immature Specimens: Less heavily spotted on the lower parts, and with the top of the head more 
brownish (?). The under tail-coverts are said to be fawn-colored, and unspotted. 
Young in Down: Not examined. 
DISTRIBUTION 
Like other African ducks the Hottentot Teal is essentially a non-migratory species, with a rather wide 
distribution. In the northeast its range extends as far as southern Abyssinia, where it has been taken 
on Lake Cialalaka in February (Salvadori, 1888), and on Lake Harrar Meyer in January (Ogilvie- 
Grant, 1901). It is not a common bird so far north, but on the lakes of Ankole (southern Uganda) 
it is quite plentiful (Ogilvie-Grant, 1905a; V. G. L. van Someren, 1916). R. B. Sharpe (1902) has 
recorded it from Entebbe, Uganda. According to F. J. Jackson (1906) it is a common bird on the 
Toro Crater Lakes, Ruwenzori range. In British East Africa it seems to be more common about 
Lake Naivasha than elsewhere, judging from the number of records (Ansorge,^de Reichenow, 1900; 
W. Stone, 1906; Bannerman, 1910; C. H. B. Grant, 1915; V. G. L. van Someren, 1922) but there are 
records for El Bolossa (W. Stone, 1906) and Lake Odah (Ogilvie-Grant, 1901). Schillings (1905) 
found it on the Nyeri Swamps. 
Across the border, in what was formerly German East Africa, this Teal has been repeatedly found 
about Kilimandjaro, where it is common and breeds (Sjostedt, 1910; Neumann, 1898) and on 
Lake Tanganyika (Matschie, 1887; Dubois, 1886a; Bbhm, 1885). It has even been found on the 
Congo (west) side of Tanganyika, at the mouth of the Lufuko River (Bohm, 1885). Kothe (1911) 
describes it as a very common bird on Lake Sundu. 
In northernmost Rhodesia the species was found to be not uncommon in the valley of the Luangwa 
(Neave, 1910) but there are no other records for Rhodesia, though Shelley (1896-1912) has reported 
specimens taken about Somba (British Central Africa) and in the vicinity of Lake Shirwa, Mozam- 
bique (Whyte, Reichenow, 1900; Shelley, 1896-1912). 
In northern Bechuanaland this species was found on the Botletle River (Bryden, 1893), in the 
Okavango Basin and on Lake Ngami (Fleck, 1894). W^ L. Sclater (1912a) has recorded it from the 
Tsende and Mazwe Rivers, and T. Ayres (1880) found it common in November near Potchefstroom. 
Horsbrugh (1912) states that he has shot it on the Orange River, and Bowker {fide Stark and Sclater, 
1906) has taken it in Basutoland. It is not a common bird in Natal (J. H. Gurney, 1862) but has been 
taken on the Umfolosi River (W. L. Sclater, 1912a) and near Newcastle (E. A. Butler, Feilden and 
Reid, 1882). In eastern Griqualand it is rarely found near Matatiele (C. G. Davies, 1908). It seems 
to be a very uncommon bird in Cape Colony, described as rare at Port Elizabeth, with other records 
for the Zak River, Fraserburg Division, Swaarkops River and evidently for Verloren Vlei (Stark 
and Sclater, 1906; and others). 
Like most ducks it is rare in Damara- and Great Namaqualand, occurring only in the rainy season, 
and most common at Omanbonde and a few of the lakes (Andersson, 1872; Fleck, 1894), but farther 
north it is abundant in Mossamedes and on the Rio Coroca, the northern limit being Cuanza (Barboza 
de Bocage, 1877-81). 
Very little can be said about its status in Madagascar, but it has been taken at Morundava and 
Tamatave (Hartlaub, 1877), and F. R. Wulsin took specimens at the southern end of Lake Alaotra, 
and at Tulear, Bevero and Miandrivazo, in the southwestern and eastern parts, in June, July and 
September (Bangs, 1918). 
