THE POCHARDS. 
41 
very showy, being of a general pencilled-grey colour, 
with a breast spotted like a Thrush’s and a white belly ; 
the head is rich cinnamon with a broad metallic-green 
streak, narrowly edged with cream-colour, on each side ; 
the wing-bar is brilliant metallic-green and black, edged 
with white fore and aft ; the stern and a st'eak down 
each side of the back are cream and black, and the eyes, 
feet, and bill all dark. 
The duck is dark brown laced with huffy white, and 
has the wings, eyes, bill, and feet as in the drake. He, 
when in undress, much resembles her, but has the plum- 
age coarsely pencilled with whitish instead of laced. 
This Teal inhabits Europe and Northern Asia, migrat- 
ing south in winter ; it visits Britain in large numbers, 
and also breeds with us, being especially remarkable for 
the affection it exhibits for its tiny young, which the 
duck has even been known to follow into captivity. In 
confinement the Teal breeds well, and is worth taking 
up with a view to profit, for it is a first-rate little game 
bird, and no doubt, if a laying strain could be started, 
eggs from them would be in demand by people wishing 
to rear the birds for shooting, as is done with wild ducks. 
And the Teal is a prolific little bird, laying as many as 
ten to lifteen eggs, which hatch in three weeks ; it should 
be mentioned that several of the smaller ducks take less 
than the month occupied in hatching by the common 
duck. 
But it is as a pet that I am chiefly recommending the 
Teal here, and, being so small, it can easily be accom- 
modated in any ordinary aviary of reasonable size, 
due regard being had to the precautions indicated above. 
In the large waterfowl aviary at the Calcutta Zoo I have 
frequently noticed the common Teal perching on the 
narrow ridges of nesting boxes, though this habit never 
seemed to be acquired by the next species. 
THE GARGANEY. 
(Querqeudula circia.) 
The Garganey is a little larger and coarser in make 
than the common Teal, and is less brilliantly coloured. 
The drake has the head and neck pinky-brown finely 
speckled with white, and set off by a black crown and 
broad white eyebrows. Tlie breast, rump, and stern are 
mottled brown and black, much as in the females of many 
other ducks. The belly is white, and the flanks white 
sparsely pencilled with black, giving a grey appearance ; 
the shoulders of the wings are French grey, and the wing- 
bar dull green broadly bordered with white ; on each side 
of the back are some long hackles streaked with French 
grey, green-black, and white. The eyes are brown, and 
the bill and feet purplish - grey in both sexes. In 
plumage the duck resembles the common Teal’s duck, 
but is easily recognisable by having no red wing-bar, or 
only a very faint reflection of one. The Garganey 
drake in undress is remarkably like his duck, and can, 
indeed, be only distinguished by his wings, which still 
retain their bright colours. 
This species of Teal has much the same range as the 
last, but does not go so far north, and it is much less 
common in England, where it is known as the Summer 
Teal. In India, where it is called the Blue-winged 
Teal, to distinguish it from the other species, it is about 
the most abundant duck in winter, and in China occurs 
at times in such numbers that, I have been told, people 
have actually been alarmed by the roar of the passing 
flocks at night. In Calcutta I have known a small 
party spend the day on a tank in the middle of the 
town, but they were no doubt attracted by a pair of 
birds which had been there unpinioned the winter 
before. 
The Garganey, in India at any rate, is peculiarly 
liable to albinism. In five years I have seen no less 
than six specimens, three of each s-ex, of a peculiar pale 
variety, in which the usual markings appear in a more 
or less washed-out form. The bill and feet in such 
seem to be flesh-coloured, at least they were in those I 
saw alive, but in a seventh, an almost pure white bird, 
submitted to me as a skin, the bill and feet appeared to 
have been dark in life as in ordinary specimens. 
Among the hundreds of ducks of different sorts I 
have seen in the Calcutta Provision Market — about the 
best place for wild-fowl in the world — I have come 
across only two albinos of other species. Both of them 
were only pallid, not pure white, and one was a drake 
Pintail, and the other a female white-eyed Pochard. I 
conclude, therefore, that albinism is rather rare in ducks, 
although some are more prone to it than others. There 
would, of course, be no difficulty in perpetuating the 
pale variety of the Garganey ; but there would be no 
point in so doing, as it is not at all pretty, whereas the 
Garganey drake in his natural colours is one of the 
very prettiest of ducks. True, his shape is not par- 
ticularly elegant, and, though only a little bigger, he 
lacks the delicacy of form which would make a lady 
fancier call the common Teal “ a dear little thing, ” 
while in brilliancy of hue and fineness of pencilling 
almost all ducks surpass him. But his colours are 
exquisitely chaste, and so well arranged that he is not 
only absolutely striking on the water — where he sits 
high and shows himself well — but also bears any amount 
of looking at from close quarters ; his dress is so 
tasteful that one could hardly suggest any alteration, 
and the brighter ducks look quite vulgar in comparison. 
Unfortunately, he remains a very long time in undress, 
not coming into colour till the beginning of spring, and his 
mate is about the dingiest of all the surface-feeders, 
with neither colour nor form to recommend her. This 
species does not seem to be a free breeder in captivity, 
but as it is not expensive this does not matter so much, 
and it is one of the ducks which best set off a mixed 
collection. 
As above stated, there are many different kinds of 
Teal ; some are exceedingly pretty, but the only one at 
all commonly on the market among foreign kinds is 
the Brazilian Teal (I\'ettion brasiliense ), both sexes of 
which are very similar, and are noticeable for their red 
feet and beautiful wings of velvetty black and metallic- 
green, the general plumage being brown with a black 
rump. Another very pretty Teal, which I have seen in 
the London Zoo, and once in the Calcutta Market, is the 
East Asiatic Clucking Teal ( Nettion formosum), of 
which the drake has the head boldly marked with buff, 
black, and metallic-greeu in a manner unlike any other 
duck’s ; the rest of his plumage is very pretty, and 
difficult to describe shortly, but both drake and duck of 
this species can be recognised by their narrow green 
and black wing bar, bordered with cinnamon before 
and white behind. 
THE POCHARDS. 
The last group to which I shall refer is that of the 
Pochards, which are diving ducks of heavy form, having 
broad, squat bodies, short wings, tails, and legs, and 
large heads and feet. Owing to this formation they are 
awkward and ungraceful on land, and only suitable to 
be kept where there is plenty of water, in which element 
they are very active, swimming low, and diving with 
great agility for food. 
Given a good pond, they are very attractive b'rds ; 
their constant plunging, especially where the water is 
clear and their motions can be followed, is amusing to 
watch, and by the same diving faculty they can easily 
escape from ill-disposed larger companions. Moreover, 
although the ducks of this section are particularly 
homely, the drakes have the great advantage of under- 
going, as a rule, little or no change in their showy 
plumage, unlike other ducks. They should have some 
extra animal food in the shape of snails, worms, small 
frogs, or fish, etc., and if their grain is given so that they 
have to dive for it, it will be all the better for them. 
Five species are commonly to bs had, of which the first 
two I shall mention are considerably larger and less 
clumsily built than tlie others. All, however, agree in 
having a white or grey wing bar , and the flights shaded 
