THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 127 



the long grass, but sometimes they build under bushes on dry land, 

 but always very close to the water. They go in flocks of about half- 

 a-dozen, and when fired at do not immediately forsake their haunts, 

 but will continue to fly in circles, thus giving many opportunities to 

 the sportsman. They are e.xcellent divers, and being possessed of 

 great vitality, are capable of carrying away a lot of shot. Unless 

 killed outright, it is almost impossible to find them in grass-grown 

 vleys^ as they will generally lie under water with merely the tip of 

 the bill exposed. Under similar circumstances they have a habit, 

 if not too severely wounded, of forsaking the water and taking 

 refuge in any long grass or bushes which may happen to be near 

 the margin. They inhabit the grass vleys throughout Bechuana- 

 land in great numbers, and bags exceeding one hundred have often 

 been obtained in a single day about Vaalpen's Pan. 



The Yellow-billed Teal (^Anas xanthorhyncha). Fig. 60, Plate 

 Xll.—{Gheel-bek of the Dutch.) 



[Size intermediate between the Black Duck and the Crimson - 

 billed Teal, which latter it much resembles. The general colour zi, 

 however^ considerably paler, and the feathers are margined with 

 dirty white instead of being pinkish ; win^s marked with a bright 

 bluish-green broad bar, edged with white; centre of upper bill 

 blackish brown, remaining portion orange yellow.\ 



This is the commonest Teal met with in the Cape Colony proper, 

 the Orange Free State, and Southern portion of the Transvaal. 

 Like the Crimson-billed Teal, it frequents rain pools and vleys in pre- 

 ference to running water, where it is usually observed in pairs. Its 

 habits are also similar to that species. Further Northward it be- 

 comes scarcer, and is only a rare visitor to Lake 'Ngami. 



The Cape Teal {Querquedula capensis). 



[Size almost the same as the Crimson-billed Teal, and is thus 

 described in Layard and Sharpe''s "Birds of South Africa" : — 

 ^^ Head, ash grey, prof usely streaked with blackish dots ; lower part 

 of neck and breast ash grey, profusely variegated with reddish 

 brown broken bars, giving the plumage a scaled appearance; feathers 

 of the back, dark reddish brown, each feather edged with lighter ; 

 speculum of the wing, bright green, edged with white and black ; 



