346 Mr. 0. H. B. Grant on Birds collected in Argentina, 
218. Querquedula flavirostris. 
Querquedula flavirostris Arg. Orn. ii. p. 131. 
Nettion flavirostre Salvad. Cat. B. xxvii. p. 261. 
a, b. <$ ad. Los Ynglases, Ajo. Sept. 18-22, 1908. 
c. <$ nestling. ,, „ Oct. 7, 1908. 
d. J ad. „ „ Mar. 8, 1908. 
Irides dark brown ; bill clear yellow, culmen and tip 
black; legs and toes brownish white. 
One of the September birds and the March one are 
moulting slightly on the body ; the latter shews signs of 
wear, and many of the belly-feathers have faded to brown at 
the tips. 
This is the Tree-Teal of the Ajo district, where it is quite 
plentiful and very tame and confiding, many being seen 
perched on the eucalyptus trees close to the buildings. There 
also it breeds, placing the nest on the top of those of Bolbo- 
rliynclius monachus , and laying five or six eggs. It probably 
carries the young down after hatching, although I have 
been unable to detect it in the act, but I have more than once 
seen the whole brood following the parent, who will often 
affect lameness or other injury to entice the intruder 
away. Its habit here of breeding in trees does not appear 
to have been recorded in other localities, and Hudson, in 
‘ Arrgentine Ornithology/ mentions it as breeding on the 
ground. The call is a harsh scraping quack, continually 
repeated when on the wing ; the flight being very swift and 
twisting when threading its way through trees. The bird 
seems perfectly at home on the branches of the trees, 
where, when not on the water, I have always seen it 
resting. 
X did not obtain the eggs, owing to the inaccessible 
positions of most of the Parrots* nests, but there is a clutch 
of six in the collection of Miss Bunnacles ; these are of 
a pale cream-colour and slightly glossed, and measure :— 
axis 1*88 to 2*11 in., diam. 1*4 to 1*5. The nest was lined 
with down, and this one was placed on a Parrot’s nest in a 
small tala tree. 
