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ANAS LEUCOPHRYS 
son’s (1920) notes seem to indicate. It reaches Cape San Antonio (Buenos Aires) 
only in flood years, when individual pairs make their temporary abode in isolated 
ponds or pools, quite regardless of the nearby traffic or dwellings. 
Although in captivity it seems a peculiarly inactive bird, it is said to be very lively 
in its natural state, constantly flying about from place to place in the day or night 
(P. L. Sclater and Hudson, 1889). Full-winged birds in the Berlin Gardens perched 
skilfully, and flew well in a small flying-cage (Heinroth, 1911). 
Mr. N. Hollister, the Director of the National Zoological Park in Washington, has 
kindly made some notes on the voice for me. The female, he writes, has a sharp 
qu-ack, a two-syllabled note, well deflned, and not at all Mallardlike. He never 
heard any note from the male nor did I from the male I possessed. An aviculturalist 
of Heinroth’s (1911) acquaintance, a Mr. Samereier, compares the note of the male 
in the breeding season to the weak miau of a cat, the note being soft and long- 
drawn-out, while the bird at the same time lifts his head. 
These homely comparisons may be here relieved by the more artistic but perhaps 
less accurate description given by Hudson (in P. L. Sclater and Hudson, 1889). I 
quote: “On the water, especially in the evening, the male emits a long inflected note, 
plaintive and exquisitely pure in sound — a more melodious note it would be difficult 
to find, even among the songsters.” One cannot help wondering whether this is the 
same as the catlike miau described by the German fancier. However, Mr. McLean 
who with Mr. Wormald has bred many of these Teal at East Dereham in Norfolk, 
England, gave me a similar idea. He said that in the nesting season, which is very late, 
the male’s melodious note could occasionally be heard. It sounded to him something 
like the musical calls of the Long-tailed Duck, but even sweeter and more attractive. 
They had not begun to call when I saw his mated pairs on the 10th of May, 1922. 
The display in this species has not been well studied. I have never seen it but it 
has been described to me as a throw “ up and back ” of the head at the same time that 
the call-note is given. The head is never brought back far enough to touch the rump 
as in some species of diving ducks. Samereier ’s statement (in Heinroth, 1911) that 
in the breeding season the male lifts his head while uttering the catlike love-note, 
evidently refers to the same simple act. Mr. Stacy, the Head Keeper at the New York 
Zoological Park, told me that he once saw the Ring-necked Teal in a rather elaborate 
display, but he made no notes of it at the time and could not remember the exact 
nature of it. 
Neither the nest site, nest, nor even the eggs have been described, so far as I can 
make out. Blaauw’s birds generally laid seven eggs, and in an informal account by 
Alvarez (1913) six or eight is given as the size of the normal clutch. Mr. Blaauw’s 
captive birds seem to have preferred elevated nesting sites, and I think it extremely 
probable that in the natural state this bird commonly nests in trees. The incuba- 
tion period (under hens, at least) was about twenty-three days. 
