BLUE-WINGED TEAL 



303 



may, however, be identified by the long slender neck and 

 by the pare white under parts. 



Blue-winged Teal. Querquedula discors 



16.00 



Ad. $. — Head apparently dusky, a broad white crescent in 

 front of the eye; back brown, upper back mottled with buff; 

 upper parts buffy or reddish-buff, everywhere spotted with black; 

 wing when closed has a light blue patch, edged with white, and a 

 concealed greenish patch ; bill black ; legs and feet yellow. 

 Ad. 9- — Top of head blackish; throat whitish, no lohite crescent ; 

 back and wings dusky; under parts gray, streaked on the breast 

 with black; luing as in $, but with less blue; bill greenish-black; 

 legs and feet greenish-yellow. 



Nest, on the ground, in weeds and rushes. Eggs, pale buff. 



The Blue-winged Teal is a migrant through New York 

 and New England, breeding rarely in northern and eastern 

 Maine. It has become 

 scarcer of late years, and 

 though still commoner than 

 the following species, it 

 can hardly be called com- 

 mon except in the wilder 

 portions of Maine. It is 

 everywhere rarer in spring 

 than in autumn, occurring 

 generally from the end of 

 August to October. Teal, 

 like the other river ducks, 

 feed at night, and lie concealed by day. Toward dusk they 

 approach the pond or marsh where they hope to feed, and 

 may be known on the wing by their small size and great 

 speed. When seen by day the male is easily recognized by 

 the white crescent before the eye and by the blue in the 

 wing ; the latter mark also distinguishes the female. (See 

 the following species.) 



Fig. 87. Bhie-winged Teal 



