523 



" When in flocks these Ducks were very shy, but less so when paired. They make a great 

 noise, as they continually utter their loud clucking note." 



Dr. Radde (Reisen im S. v. Ost-Sibirien, pp. 368, 369) : — 



"It arrives very early; and the first specimen was procured as early as 26th March, 1856, 

 on the Tarei-nor. I saw the first specimens in the Bureja mountains on the 28th March, 1858, 

 and on the 4th April met with the large flocks above referred to, in speaking of A. crecca, on the 

 Uril brook; and they remained in flocks until the 19th April. On the 24th April only small 

 flocks were observed. When the waters rose I often saw both this Duck and the Common Teal 

 sitting in small flocks on the floating ice blocks, and floating down stream on them. Anas 

 glocitans is not particular as to its society ; and one morning, about the middle of April, I saw, in 

 a small morass above the Udir rivulet, Anas boschas, A. crecca, A. glocitans, A. clypeata, A. acuta, 

 and a few A. penelope sitting quietly close together after a meal, resting, and I crept close to 

 them under cover. 



" After the 7th May this Duck was not seen any more. It is generally rare near Lake 

 Baikal, and does not remain there during the summer." 



Ornithologists must not confound the Eastern Teal with the Bimaculated Duck of British 

 authors; for it is now tolerably certain that the specimens on which this bird was named are 

 nothing more than hybrids, and the true Querquedula formosa has no right to a place in the list 

 of British-killed birds. 



The figures in the Plate have been drawn from living examples in the Zoological Society's 

 Gardens. The descriptions are taken from specimens in our own collection, the male being one 

 of Dr. Badde's specimens, and the female obtained by Dr. Middendorff in Eastern Siberia. 



In the preparation of the above article we have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. Sharpe and Dresser, 

 a (male). Tunka, Siberia, May 4th, 1856 (Radde). b (female). Eastern Siberia (Middendorff). 



E Mus. H. B. Tristram. 

 a, b. Lake Baikal (Middendorff). 



