128 THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



shoulders dark ash; legs reddish; webs dusky; claws black; bill 

 red, the base black^l 



This Teal is similar in its habits to the Crimson and Yellow-billed 

 varieties, although it is not by any means so plentiful as either. It 

 is not found in the Interior. 



The Hottentot Teal {Querquedula hottentotta). Fig. 65, 

 Plate XII. 



\_Size about the same as the common teal of the British Islands. 

 Top of head brown; cheeks and chin dirty yellow; breast and belly 

 light reddish brown, the former sparely blotched with umber brown; 

 back, dark brown; the feathers fringed with a paler colour ; 

 shoulders of wing dark umber, remaining portion of same dark 

 green, relieved with a white longitudinal streak ; quills dark brown.] 



This is the smallest of the Cape wild fowl, but is rather rare, being 

 occasionally met with in the Cape Colony, Natal, and the Transvaal. 

 It has not, to our knowledge, been seen in Bechuanaland or Matabe- 

 leland, but at Lake 'Ngami it is fairly common, frequenting the 

 shallows singly or in pairs, but never in flocks. It is exceedingly 

 wary, and flies with great rapidity. 



The Cape Shoveller (Spatula capensis). Fig. 66, Plate XII. 



\_ About the same size as the Yellow-billed Teal, and is easily dis- 

 tinguished by the projecting shovel-shape of the upper mandible. 

 Lower portion of head and upper portion of neck, dirty white, 

 minutely -mottled with small brownish spots. General colour, dark 

 umber brown, each feather margined with pale buf; shoulders of 

 wings pale blu£, followed by a narrow bar of white, and again by a 

 broader one of blackish green ; legs and paddles dirty yellow.] 



Although the Shoveller is by no means common anywhere in 

 South Africa, it is perhaps more so in the territories bordering the 

 Orange and Vaal Rivers, as a good many have been exposed for sale 

 from time to time on the Kimberley market. Mr. Andersson 

 mentions its presence in the northern portions of Damaraland.* 



* Mr. Nicolls never observed the species at Lake 'Ngami. 



