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they do not occur every consecutive year. They are, however, less uncertain in their appearance 

 than Erismatura mersa.' " 



We are glad to be able to add the following notes kindly forwarded to us by Lord Lilford, 

 who may be called the pioneer of Spanish ornithology: — "About this bird I can give you 

 very little information. It is well known to the wild-fowl-shooters of the Guadalquivir ; and 

 from them almost all the information I possess is derived. They all seem to agree that this 

 Duck is a vernal migrant to Southern Spain, making its appearance in March, in small flocks, 

 breeding in the country, and disappearing in September. Few are brought into the market 

 at Seville, where the bird is known as ' Buhilla,' or ' Ruilla,' whilst in the Coto de Dona 

 Ana, where I saw a few of this species in May of the present year, it appears to be known 

 exclusively by the name of ' Pardilla.' In 1869 I offered a high reward for identified eggs of 

 this bird ; and in the following year two nests were obtained for me, containing eleven and ten 

 eggs respectively, with the hen bird shot from the nest in each instance. The first of these two 

 nests was obtained during the last days of May, the other in the first week of June, at a spot in 

 or near the Coto del Rey, known as La Carniceria. The Marbled Duck appears to me, from the 

 little I have seen of it, to have very much the same habits as the Common Teal, flying very 

 swiftly, and generally low over the water, uttering a low croaking whistle somewhat like, but 

 not exactly similar to, that of the last-mentioned bird. I have this year received more eggs said 

 to be of this species ; but the only proofs of their authenticity, if proofs they can be called, are 

 their close resemblance to the identified eggs of the present species, and the fact that, as far as 

 I know, no other species of Anas lays an egg at all like that of the present bird in Andalucia. I 

 observe that Mr. Saunders says (Ibis, 3rd ser. vol. i. p. 396) that ' the Marbled Duck is abundant 

 in the marisma throughout the year, and breeds at Santa Olaya.' Curiously enough it was at the 

 Laguna de Santa Olaya, and there only, that I met with a few of this species in May of the 

 present year. I do not think these birds were then breeding, though no doubt they do breed in 

 that locality, a particularly suitable one for any Duck ; but every one whom I questioned on the 

 subject agreed in saying that the Marbled Duck was one of the few species of Anatidse which 

 they never saw in winter." 



Our friend Mr. Howard Saunders, to whom we are indebted for several Spanish-killed 

 specimens of this Duck, records it as not uncommon in the " marisma " in Southern Spain ; and 

 the Eev. A. C. Smith states that Professor Barboza du Bocage told him that it is seldom found 

 in Portugal. There is a specimen in the Lisbon Museum. Temminck states that M. Cantraine 

 procured a pair of this species from Sardinia, — another example, also killed in the same country, 

 being the one sent by M. Cara to the Marquis Durazzo, and figured by Prince Ch. Bonaparte in 

 his ' Fauna Italica.' This example is, we believe, in the Museum at Genoa. It has also been 

 known to occur in the Ionian Islands ; and Lord Lilford, writing on the birds of these islands, 

 states " I saw a boy at Butrinto with a mutilated specimen of this rare Duck in his hand, which 

 he had just killed on the lake ; he said it was alone when he shot it. I once flushed three 

 Ducks at Phanari, which puzzled me very much at the time, but which, I have now little doubt, 

 belonged to this species ; and an officer of the garrison at Corfu described to me a small Duck 

 he had killed near Arta, which I think can have been no other but this." 



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