Argentine Ornithology Volume Ii Part 25

(GREY TEAL.)

+Querquedula versicolor+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129; _iid. P.

Z. S._ 1868, p. 146 (Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 388; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 191 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 401 (Patagonia); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274 (Entrerios). +Anas maculirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 516 (Mendoza). +Querquedula maculirostris+, _Burm. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 367.

_Description._--Above grey, with narrow black cross bands, which are more numerous and narrower on the rump; top of head smoky brown, sides of head and throat white; abdomen whitish, tinged with ochraceous and spotted with black on the breast, more whitish and with numerous cross bands on the belly; wings externally greyish brown; speculum purplish green, margined, with white above and below, also with a subterminal black band; flanks distinctly barred across with black and white; bill black, with an orange blotch each side at the base of the mandible; feet hazel: whole length 165 inches, wing 76, tail 34. _Female_ similar, but colour duller and wing-speculum not so bright.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, Patagonia, and Chili.

This prettily variegated blue-grey Teal with its strongly marked bill is perhaps the most abundant of the genus in the Argentine Republic, especially in the southern portion. It is resident, and unites in much larger flocks than any other bird of this group in the country. Its note when disturbed or flying is very peculiar, resembling in sound the m.u.f.fled stridulating of the mole-cricket. Durnford found it common and breeding at Baradero.

348. QUERQUEDULA TORQUATA (Vieill.).

(RING-NECKED TEAL.)

+Querquedula torquata+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129; _iid. P. Z.

S._ 1869, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 389; _Burm. P. Z.

S._ 1872, p. 367 (Parana).

_Description._--Above earthy brown; head above and neck, which expands into a half-collar, together with the lesser wing-coverts, lower back, and tail above, black; scapulars pure chestnut; wings brownish black, with a large white blotch on the coverts of the secondaries, which are themselves bronzy green: beneath, sides of head and throat dirty white streaked with brown; breast tinged with rosy red and sparingly spotted with black; belly and flanks white, very narrowly barred with grey; crissum black, with a white blotch on each side: whole length 140 inches, wing 72, tail 27.

_Female_: brown; superciliaries and stripe on each side of the head with the throat and sides of the neck white: beneath white, banded across with brown; wings and tail black; secondaries bronzy green; wings with a white blotch as in the male; bill reddish; feet brown.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Argentina.

This beautiful Duck, for our first knowledge of which we are indebted to Azara, is rather scarce in collections. Azara described the two somewhat dissimilar s.e.xes under different names, the male being his _Pato collar negro_, and the female his _Pato ceja blanca_.

In the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres the Ring-necked Teal is strictly migratory, and in the month of October appears in small flocks in the marshes along the river; but in the interior of the country it is seldom met with. They are extremely active birds, constantly flying about from place to place both by day and night; and in the love-season, when they alight in a pool of water, the males immediately engage in a spirited combat. While flying they utter a peculiar jarring sound, and occasionally a quacking note, rapidly repeated and sounding like a strange laugh; but on the water, especially in the evening, the male emits a long inflected note, plaintive and exquisitely pure in sound--a more melodious note it would be difficult to find even among the songsters.

349. QUERQUEDULA BRASILIENSIS (Gm.).

(BRAZILIAN TEAL.)

+Anas brasiliensis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 517 (Parana, Tuc.u.man). +Querquedula brasiliensis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129; _iid. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 390; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 192, et 1878, p. 64 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 273 (Entrerios); _Burm. P. Z.

S._ 1872, p. 368.

_Description._--Above brown; head more rufous; lower back, tail, and lesser wing-coverts black; wings brownish black; outer webs of the inner primaries and the secondaries s.h.i.+ning bronzy green; broad tips of the outer secondaries white, divided from the green colour by a black band: beneath paler, washed on the breast with rusty red; throat whitish; belly slightly banded with brown; bill blackish; feet red: whole length 155 inches, wing 70, tail 33.

_Hab._ South America.

This richly coloured Teal, which is widely extended in South America from Guiana down to the Straits of Magellan, is usually met with in pairs near Buenos Ayres, although as many as five or six are sometimes seen together. In habits it is a tree duck, preferring water-courses in the neighbourhood of woods, and is frequently seen perched on horizontal branches. The flight is slow and with the wings very much depressed, as in a duck about to alight on the water; and the beautiful blue, green, and white speculum is thus rendered very conspicuous. The note of the male in the love-season is a long plaintive whistle, singularly pure and sweet in sound, and heard usually in the evening.

It is a rather curious coincidence that the vernacular name of this Teal in La Plata should be _Pato Portugues_, which means, as things are understood in that region, Brazilian Duck.

350. DAFILA SPINICAUDA (Vieill.).

(BROWN PINTAIL.)

+Anas spinicauda+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 515 (Parana). +Anas oxyura+, _Burm. ibid._ (Mendoza). +Dafila spinicauda+, _Scl. P.

Z. S._ 1870, p. 666, pl. x.x.xviii.; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p.

130; _iid. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 146 (Buenos Ayres), 1869, p. 157, et 1876, p. 392; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 64 (Buenos Ayres) et p. 401 (Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 42 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above brown; feathers black in the centre and margined with brown; head above bright rufous spotted with black; wings brown, with a large speculum of bronzy black, distinctly margined above and below with buff: beneath, throat dirty white, sparingly spotted with black; breast, flanks, and crissum tinged with rufous, the feathers with black centres; belly white, in the lower portion slightly varied with brown; bill black, at the base yellow; feet plumbeous: whole length 190 inches, wing 97, tail 55. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Southern Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Chili, and Patagonia.

The Brown Pintail is the commonest Duck in the Argentine Republic, and unites in the largest flocks. It is also, according to Philippi and Landbeck, the commonest species in Chili. It ranges from South Brazil and Peru to the Magellan Straits and the Falklands; but is probably most abundant in the Plata district and in North Patagonia. In the autumn it sometimes visits the pampas in immense numbers, to feed on the seed of the giant thistle (_Carduus mariana_); and on these occasions I have known as many as sixty killed at one shot. The birds, however, soon become wary when feeding on the open plains in large flocks, and it then becomes impossible to approach them without a trained horse. The Ducks pay no attention to horses and cattle browsing near them; and the trained animal, with the gunner concealing his gun and person behind it, feeds quietly along, and gradually approaches the flock until within range. In the valley of the Rio Negro, in Patagonia, the Pintails sometimes cause serious damage to the farmers, coming up in clouds from the river by night to devour the ripe grain.

In favourable seasons the Pintail is a resident; but like the marsh-gulls, pigeons, the American golden plover, and all birds that live and move in immense bodies, it travels often and far in search of food or water. A season of scarcity will quickly cause them to disappear from the pampas; and sometimes, after an absence of several months, a day's rain will end with the familiar sound of their cry and the sight of their long trains winging their way across the darkening heavens.

Their nest is made on the ground, under the gra.s.s or thistles, at a distance from the water, and is plentifully lined with down plucked from the bosom of the sitting bird. The eggs are seven or eight in number and of a deep cream-colour.

351. DAFILA BAHAMENSIS (Linn.).

(BAHAMA PINTAIL.)

+Anas bahamensis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 515 (Rio Uruguay).

+Dafila bahamensis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 130; _iid. P.

Z. S._ 1868, p. 146 (Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 393; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 192 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274 (Carhue, Pampas); _Burm. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 367.

_Description._--Above reddish, brown; feathers with their centres blackish; lower back blackish; upper tail-coverts and tail fawn-colour; wings dark slaty black; broad speculum bronzy green, margined above and below by a fawn-coloured band, the lower band with an interior black margin; edgings of the external secondaries fawn-colour: beneath brownish fawn-colour, entirely covered with obsolete black spots; throat and cheeks and front neck pure white; bill black, with a red spot at the base on each side; feet brown: whole length 180 inches, wing 84, tail 50. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America.

The Bahama Duck, as it is commonly called, though it is very doubtful whether it really occurs in the Bahama Islands, is found throughout South America from British Guiana to Patagonia; and Burmeister says that it is spread over the whole of Brazil, and that it is nearly the commonest species of Duck in that country.

On the pampas of Buenos Ayres this Duck is not a common bird. It is usually seen in pairs, or, on rare occasions, three or four together.

352. MARECA SIBILATRIX (Poepp.).

(CHILOE WIGEON.)

+Anas chiloensis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 517 (Mendoza).

+Mareca chiloensis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 130. +Mareca sibilatrix+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 395; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p.

41 (Chupat), p. 192 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 401 (Central Patagonia); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274 (Bahia Blanca).

_Description._--Above black, on the neck barred across with white; feathers of the back and scapularies margined with white; head above and cheeks pure white; nape and back of the neck s.h.i.+ning greenish purple; wings brown, lesser wing-coverts white; secondaries velvety black, white at the base: beneath white, throat and fore neck blackish; upper breast black, with narrow white cross bands; flanks stained with rusty rufous; bill and feet black: whole length 200 inches, wing 103, tail 43. _Female_ similar, but not so bright in colour.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, Chili, and Patagonia.

The Chiloe Wigeon, as this Duck has been usually called since its introduction and acclimatization in England, is the only species of the genus found in South America, and is most abundant on the pampas, where it is called by the country people _Pato picaso_ or _Pato overo_ (piebald duck), or _Chirivi_ from its cry. It is a very handsome bird; the upper plumage variegated with black, white, and grey; forehead, speculum, and under surface white; head and neck dark glossy green. It is resident, and is usually seen in small flocks of from a dozen to twenty birds, but sometimes as many as one or two hundred congregate together. They are wary and loquacious, strong on the wing, and frequently engage in a peculiar kind of aerial pastime. A small flock will rise to a vast height, often until they seem mere specks on the sky, or disappear from sight altogether; and at that great alt.i.tude they continue hovering or flying, sometimes keeping very nearly in the same place for an hour or more, alternately separating and closing, and every time they close they slap each other on the wing so smartly that the sound may be heard distinctly even when the birds are no longer visible.

While flying or swimming about they constantly utter their far-sounding cry--three or four long, clear, whistling notes, followed by another uttered with great emphasis and concluding with a kind of flourish.

The nest is made amongst the rushes in the marshes, and the eggs are pure white and eight or nine in number.