HARTLAUB'S TEAL 87 



southern limit seems to be the Congo Delta. Just north of there it was found at Luemba and Chis- 

 sambo on the Loango coast, by Lucan and Petit (Sharpe and Bouvier, 1876). There is also a speci- 

 men in the Paris Museum from the interior, namely, from the Alima River. 



The chief habitat of this species seems to be the strip from the Atlantic, east to about 29° E. long., 

 lying between the Equator and 5° N. lat. ; that is, southern Camerun, north-central French Congo, 

 and northern Congo Free State. Mr. Chapin, in a valuable letter, has sent me details as to its status 

 in the northeastern Congo, where it was previously discovered by Camburn (Neumann, Bull. British 

 Ornith. Club, vol. 21, p. 42, 1908). The observations cover the districts of the Upper Uelle and of the 

 Ituri, in both of which areas Camburn also met with this species. Chapin observed and took speci- 

 mens in the region between Niangara on the Uelle, south to Avakubi on the Aruwimi, and he sup- 

 poses it occurs east to about 30° E. long, on the Bomokandi and Ituri. In the region covered by him 

 it was the most abundant duck, though in so poor a duck country it was of course not common. It is 

 most common in the north about Niangara, and on the Bomokandi, and certainly does not extend 

 farther east than Dungu, for in two years it was not seen at Faradje. Emin Pasha found it at Tingasi 

 (Reichenow, 1900). By Mr. Chapin's records for Niangara and Rungu on the Bomokandi the range is 

 extended somewhat to the east. On the Ituri the species is less common than farther north in the 

 Uelle region, though Mr. Chapin believes it occurs in the area southeast of Avakubi. 



GENERAL HABITS 



Chapin (in litt.) speaks of its habitat as being small brooks entirely hidden in the 

 forest, and he says the birds are very rarely seen on larger rivers. Sharpe (1907) 

 states that it is seldom seen, but often heard, along streams in the Camerun where 

 the foliage is extremely dense. According to this writer, the birds are bold on the 

 Ja River and come to eat cassava roots that are put to soak by the village women. 

 By taking advantage of this habit, people often snare them. Chapin, on the other 

 hand, considers them fairly shy, and says they never allow a man within gunshot if 

 he is in plain view. 



Nothing has been recorded concerning the daily movements or the feeding habits 

 of this "Teal," nor have any notes been made as to its flight or gait. Biittikofer in 

 Liberia observed them in a forest of high mangroves on the Junk River where they 

 perched on overhanging branches when startled. Chapin, too, notes that they some- 

 times fly up and alight on the larger boughs of trees. 



In southern Camerun, these ducks are generally seen in pairs, but occasionally 

 a trio is met with, a pair with a third individual "tagging after." Once in August 

 four were seen perching on the limbs of a cotton tree (Bates, 1909). Chapin says 

 that he has seen as many as six together on a pond on the Uelle River, though more 

 often they are in pairs or singles. His observations were made in the northeastern 

 Congo, where ducks are almost unknown, a few Black Ducks {Anas sparsa), an oc- 

 casional Comb Duck (Sarcidiornis melanotus) , and rarely a White-faced Tree 

 Duck (Dendrocygna viduata), or Spur-winged Goose (Plectropterus gambensis), 

 being the only Anatidce seen besides the present species. On the occasion of finding 

 six of these Teal together, they were with a Spur- wing; beyond this nothing has been 

 noted as to association with other species. 



