517 



Albufera of Valencia." The Eev. A. C. Smith met with it in Portugal, where he says it was 

 declared to be common. In Malta Mr. Wright records it as " not uncommon in spring and 

 autumn, and occasionally in summer." Count Salvadori writes : — " About the end of February 

 and early in March great flocks of these Ducks arrive in Italy ; and, strange to say, not one is to 

 be seen in autumn. Many breed on our larger lakes and marshes in Lombardy, Tuscany, as also in 

 Sicily." Lord Lilford states as follows : — "Appears in great numbers about the end of February in 

 Epirus and Corfu ; remains till April. I think a few pairs breed in the country." Von der Miihle 

 observes: — "This is one of the few Ducks that breed in Greece, in the swamps of Thermopylae, 

 and other places ; but many do not seem to breed, as I have observed them in small flocks all the 

 summer through on the small pieces of water, where they are so little shy that they allow them- 

 selves to be approached within gunshot." Lindermayer further states : — " It is true that it 

 winters in all parts of Greece ; but it is only from the end of March that it is found very common 

 on all lakes and swamps. Many pairs may breed on the Kopai Lake and in Thermopylae." 

 Messrs. Elwes and Buckley record it as " most plentiful in Bulgaria, where it seems to take the 

 place of the Teal to a great extent, and remains to breed." Von Nordmann says it is very 

 common in Southern Russia ; and Major Irby tells us that it used to be very abundant in the 

 marshes at Inkermann in spring, where he observed it during the Crimean war. From Trebizond 

 it has been sent by Mr. Keith E. Abbott. 



Canon Tristram does not seem to have met with this Duck in Palestine ; but many 

 notices have been published respecting its occurrence in North-eastern Africa. Captain Shelley 

 writes : — " We met with this bird in tolerable abundance at El Kab towards the end of April, 

 and shot one specimen." Dr. von Heuglin also says it is common in North-eastern Africa and 

 Arabia. Loche writes as follows: — "Very common in Algeria on the lakes, rivers, and chotts. 

 Its motions are lively and easy, and its habits particularly sociable. It is not shy, and can be 

 easily approached. Its flight is rapid and lofty. Often in the autumn they unite in large flocks; 

 and remain together until the spring." Mr. Osbert Salvin, in his paper on " Five Months' 

 Birds'-nesting in the Eastern Atlas," says : — " I shot a Garganey in the Medjerdele, just below 

 Djebel Dekma, during the first week in April." 



With regard to its distribution in Siberia, Messrs. Dybowski and Parrex found it common 

 near Darasun, in Dauria. Dr. von Middendorff records it as shot at the mouth of the Uda. 

 Dr. Eadde says it is one of the rarer birds of the Amoor. He procured a few in April on the 

 Udir river. At Tarei-nor they are not uncommon, and the first arrived there in the night be- 

 tween the 12th and 13th April 1856. It breeds, though rarely, in the marshes of the Tarei-nor. 

 Mr. Swinhoe, writing from Amoy, says the Garganey " would seem from its unfrequency on 

 the coast to be quite an inland winter visitant;" but more recently he observes that it "probably 

 breeds in South China, but is rare; has occurred also in Formosa." It appears to be very 

 plentiful in India during the winter. Hodgson met with it in Nepal ; and Dr. Leith Adams 

 records it as common on the Punjaub rivers and lakes during the cold season. Major Irby in his 

 paper on "Birds observed in Oudh and Kumaon," remarks as follows: — "Frequently seen in 

 the cold season; exceedingly common in February and March; I caught some young, half- 

 fledged, in the month of September." Mr. Blyth writes : — " In Lower Bengal the two commonest 

 species of Ducks during the cold season are A. acuta and A. querquedula ; but I have never 



