Blue-winged Teal 43 



Genus QUERQUEDULA. 



Size very small — wing less than 8 ; no sign of a crest ; bill broader 

 than in Nettion ; specukun glossy green, wing-coverts sky blue. 

 Two species in the United States. 



Blue-winged Teal. Querquedula discors. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 140 — Colorado Records — Baird 58, p. 780 ; 

 Henshaw 75, p. 477 ; Drew 81, p. 142 ; 85, p. 18 ; Beckham 85, p. 144 ; 

 W. G. Smith 87, p. 169 ; Morrison 88, p. 140 ; 89, p. 149 ; Cooke 97, 

 pp. 18, 54, 194; 06, p. 32; Henderson 03, p. 234; 09, p. 225; 

 Warren 06, p. 19 ; 09, p. 13 ; Rockwell 08, p. 157 ; Felger 09, p. 280. 



Description. — Male — Crown, base of the bill and chin, dark brown ; 

 a crescent-shaped white mark across the face in front of the eye ; rest 

 of the head and neck ashy -grey with a mauve gloss ; upper -parts dusky 

 brown, scalloped and streaked with buff y- brown ; below vinaceous, 

 heavily spotted throughout with black ; under tail-coverts black ; 

 a white spot on either side at the base of the tail ; wing with a green 

 metallic speculum, bordered in front by white ; the whole basal portion 

 of the wing light blue ; iris brown, bill black, legs dingy yellow. Length 

 16; wing 7 0; tail 3-0; culnaen 1-5; tarsus 1-20. 



The female is mainly speckled above, and grey, mottled with dusky, 

 below, but has the characteristic blue, white and green on the wings. 

 The young bird has the abdomen white, and green on the wing absent. 



Distribution. — The breeding range of this duck is mainly north of 

 a line drawn from Nova Scotia to New Mexico and thence to Oregon 

 and northwards to Saskatchewan, while on migration and in winter 

 it covers a vast extent of country from Virginia and California to 

 Brazil and Chili. 



In Colorado the Blue-wing is quite common on migration tliroughout 

 the state in spring and autumn. Hersey and Rockwell state that it 

 is far the most common breeding Duck at Barr, arriving late and leaving 

 early. Henshaw writes that he found it equally abundant with the 

 Green-wing at San Luis Lakes and believed that it bred there ; Aiken 

 who visited San Luis Lakes the following year, confirms this. It was 

 taken by Lieut. Bryan on the South Platte in July many years ago 

 (Baird), and Cowie informed Henderson that it breeds on the plains 

 of Boulder co. Mr. Aiken tells me he found a nest, but without eggs, 

 on June 4th, on the Big Sandy Creek near Ramah, about forty miles 

 east of Colorado Springs on the plains, and there is a specimen in the 

 Aiken collection taken on May 3rd at Falcon in El Paso eo. which 

 might have been breeding or preparing to breed. All other observers 

 only seem to have noticed this duck on migration. It arrives from 

 the south rather late. Smith notes it at Loveland from March 25th 



