562 



Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye record it as of very rare and irregular occurrence in 

 Provence. 



In Spain it is comparatively a common species. When in Valencia in May 1866 I saw 

 several specimens in the museum of that town, which had been obtained in the Albufera, at 

 which place I also saw the bird, and was told that it breeds there, but I had not time to remain 

 and search for the nests. Mr. Howard Saunders writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 397), " I never obtained 

 this bird in the flesh in Andalucia, and am inclined to consider it rare. In the Albufera, of 

 Valencia, I found it very abundant in 1863 ; and though now sadly reduced in numbers, it was 

 the only species of Duck I found there last May." Lord Lilford informs me that he found it 

 "abundant on the Albufera in September 1856." Mr. A. von Homeyer (Journ. f. O. 1862> 

 p. 434) found it breeding on Mallorca, where he observed two pairs on the Prat. 



In Italy it is a common species during the summer, according to Salvadori (J. f. O. 1865, 

 p. 325), arriving in the spring and leaving again in August. He once saw in April about twenty 

 individuals in one flock. Mr. Howard Saunders records it as one of the commonest breeding 

 Ducks in Sicily ; and Professor Doderlein states that it is " abundant in the marshes of Catania, 

 Lentini, and Terranova, especially in winter and spring, when arrivals take place from the south. 

 A good many pairs breed in the above localities ; and Cav. L. Benoit obtained the eggs." According 

 to Mr. C. A. Wright (Ibis, 1864, p. 156) it has occurred in Malta, where " a specimen was 

 obtained on the 1st of September 1861. I was only in time to secure the bill and legs, which 

 were enough to determine the species ; the rest had been consigned to the pot. Mr. Tristram, I 

 believe, has also observed it in Malta." Lord Lilford found it common at Butrinto during the 

 winter; but both Lindermayer and Von der Miihle agree that it is rare in Greece, the latter 

 stating (Vog. Griech. p. 165) that "even in the most severe winters it is a very rare species, only 

 observed in Bumelia and in the marshes of the Peloponnesus, but not in the Greek archipelago." 

 In Southern Germany it is, according to Fritsch (J. f. O. 1872, p. 370), " found, and in former 

 years bred on the Pardubicer ponds. Mr. Lokaj got one in the Prague market, and obtained one 

 in the summer from Neuhaus." The Patter von Tschusi Schmidhofen informs me that " it occurs 

 in Moravia ; and, according to Heinrichs, one was shot some years ago at Littau ; and a pair are 

 in the Briinn Museum, which were shot in 1842 ; several have been shot on the Danube, two in 

 the winter of 1830 on the Hofgarten ponds at Kremsmiinster (Hinterberger). In 1868 one was 

 sent to the Linz Museum. In 1829 one Avas shot on the Mondsee, and is now in the St.-Peter's 

 collection at Salzburg ; and in the Vienna Museum is an adult male, shot on the Neusiedler lake, 

 in Hungary, in 1818, and a young male shot in November 1829." Messrs. Elwes and Buckley 

 met with it in Turkey, where, they write (Ibis, 1870, p. 340), it is " not uncommon in some parts 

 of the country, and said by Mr. A. Cullen to breed in the Dobrudscha. We shot a female on the 

 Inkermann river in March." 



1 do not find it recorded from Asia Minor ; nor does Captain Shelley include it in his list of 

 birds found in North-east Africa, though Schlegel (Mus. Pays-Bas, -Anseres, p. 25) speaks of it as 

 occurring in Egypt ; and Von Heuglin (N.O. Afr. p. 68) records it from " Lower Egypt in winter." 

 It appears to be common in Algeria. Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 81) that he "occa- 

 sionally procured it in the Wed R'hir and at El Aghouat;" and Mr. Osbert Salvin (I. c. 1859, 

 p. 358) saw numbers in the marshes of Zana, where he also found them breeding. 



