360 
ANAS QUERQUEDULA 
rounded spot at the base of the culmen, similar to the spot on the head of the female Formosan Teal. 
Remainder of cheeks streaked browm and white; chin and upper throat immaculate buffy white. 
Upper breast mottled and remainder of lower parts nearly white, except lower abdomen and under 
tail-coverts, which are streaked with browm. Flanks dark brown, the feathers edged with whitish. 
Wings nearly as in the male, but speculum less brilliant. Soft parts same as in the male. 
Wing 183-195 mm.; bill 38-40; tarsus 29-31. 
Weight 9 ounces to 15 ounces (0.25 to 0.42 kilograms), exceptionally up to a pound (0.45 kilograms). 
Young in First (Juvenal) Plumage are like the female, but are finely streaked and spotted all 
over the lower surface. The sexes closely resemble each other at this time. 
M.\le in Eclipse Plltmage : Resembles the adult female, but the upper wing-coverts and the specu- 
lum are as in the breeding dress. The eclipse plumage begins to be assumed by early or mid-July 
and is complete early in August. It is retained very late, that is, all through autumn and early 
winter. Breeding dress usually is not complete until late February or March. 
Downy Young: Very similar to young of the Mallard, but smaller. They are very dark, almost 
black above, especially so on the occiput. The lower parts are buffy to sulphur yellow with a darker 
area on the upper breast. The face pattern is the same as in the Mallard with a light superciliary 
streak and a dark trans-ocular streak. There is, however, a larger and darker aural patch, which 
runs forward to the base of the bill. The white dorsal spotting is the same as in many other ducks. 
Compared to the young of the American Blue-winged Teal this is very much darker above and has 
the face pattern much more prominent. It differs from the young of the Common Teal in being 
darker above, black instead of dark brown. It may also be distinguished by the well-marked and 
prolonged aural streak which in the Common Teal is only a small aural patch. 
Note: Pallid varieties of this Teal are mentioned by several writers. They are said to be not uncom- 
mon in India and near Odessa (Nordmann, 1840: J. H. Gurney, in Dresser, 1871-81; Finn, 1907; 
Stevenson, 1858). Radde (1884) noticed that in what he considered old male specimens the white 
upper eye-stripe becomes very wide and stretches down the back of the neck more than half way. 
(The same thing happens in our American Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors, and has even been made 
the basis of a geographic race.) Radde adds that in such specimens the throat spot becomes a beauti- 
ful pitch-black color. 
DISTRIBUTION 
The Garganey is one of the less common, although one of the more widely distributed of the ducks. 
This is due largely to the fact that a very broad area of passage lies between the breeding and winter- 
ing grounds. So far as I know the speeies has never been reported breeding north of the Arctic 
Circle, and probably it does not nest north of 64° or 65° north latitude. The extreme southern limit 
of the breeding range is apparently 30° north latitude. It seems to nest in leeland, on 
the Myvatn and near Akureyi (Hantzseh, 1905), but only occasionally and in very 
small numbers. All records for Iceland are for the months of June and July. It is an extremely rare 
bird on the Faroes (Millais, 1902) as well as on the Shetlands. At one time Garganey 
were reported to hav^e bred on the latter islands, but the statement was probably 
unfounded (Evans and Buekley, 1899). Throughout the mainland of Scotland it is an exceedingly 
rare bird, and is not known to have ever nested. There are records of its occurrence in the Outer 
Hebrides (Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 1888), the Inner Hebrides (Harvie-Brown and 
Buckley, 1892), the Orkneys (Buckley and Harvie-Brown, 1891), Sutherland (Harvie- 
Brown and Buckley, 1887), the Moray Basin (Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 1895), the Tay Basin 
Iceland 
Shetlands 
Hebrides 
