568 QUEEQUEDULA CYANOPTERA, CINNAMON TEAL. 



has been first made generally known from the extreme point of South 

 America, and for a long time recognized only as an inhabitant of tliat 

 continent. Yet this species furnishes such a case, having been early 

 named by King Anas raffiesi, from a specimen taken in the Straits of 

 Magellan. It is, moreover, a singular fact, that it was first discovered 

 in the United States in a locality where it is of very unusual and 

 probably only accidental occurrence. It has not, to my knowledge, been 

 found in Louisiana since its discovery in that State, at Opelousas, in 

 1849. Mr. Cassin notices this occurrence, in the journal cited above, 

 as that of a bird new to our fauna, and subsequently makes tbe ibllow- 

 ing remarks in his " Illustrations," &c. : " In a communication tons, 

 accompanying one of the first specimens obtained by him [Dr. E. Pi- 

 late], and intended for the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, that 

 gentleman mentions having occasionally seen it in company with other 

 species of ducks, but regards its appearance as unusual in Louisiana." 

 Our next notice, after Mr. Cassin's original one, is Prof. Baird's, of 1852, 

 also above cited. This author observes : " This beautiful species is now 

 for the second time x)resented as an inhabitant of North Ameripoa. * * 

 It appears to be a common bird in Utah." The same year it is also 

 given by Mr. Lawrence ; the following one, Dr. Woodhouse recorded it 

 as " very abundant throughout Western Texas, New Mexico and Cali- 

 fornia." In 1855, Mr. Cassin, in the work just mentioned, describes and 

 figures the species, alluding to previous discoveries, and to the occur- 

 rence of the bird in Chili, as shown by the collections of the United 

 States Astronomical Expedition. By this time, it had become known 

 as a bird of Western North America at large, numerous fragmentary 

 accounts having been given by the naturalists attached to the various 

 Pacific Eailroad Surveys, who observed it iu many different localities. 

 Among these, Dr. Suckley's is of special interest. "I myself," he says, 

 alluding to its previously noticed occurrences, ''have carried its recorded 

 habitat as far north as the Columbia Eiver, where, at Fort Dalles, I 

 obtained several specimens. Fort Dalles is situated about latitude 40° 

 45' north. I presume this forms the northernmost limit of the species, 

 excepting, perhaps, a narrow point of the same general geographic re- 

 gion which, crossing the Columbia, extends north of Fort Dalles about 

 100 miles. This is the culmination northwards of the great wedge- 

 shaped northern prolongation of the Southern iauna, occuring in the 

 arid interior of Oregon and Washington Territories. Near Fort Dalles 

 this Teal seems to be an annual summer resident, where it breeds on 

 the lagoons of the Columbia, and near the small lakes and pond-holes 

 in the basaltic trap of the vicinity." 



The Cinnamon Teal was found breeding in Idaho by Mr. Merriam, 

 who took a set of nine eggs, containing large embryos, on the 29th of 

 June, on Marsh Creek. The nest was in swamp grass, and lined with 

 down. The eggs of this bird are strictly oval in shape, one end being- 

 much smaller than the other — more so than is usual in this family. 

 They are creamy-white or pale buff, not shaded perceptibly with the 

 grayish or olive-drab so commonly observable in Ducks' eggs. Two 

 specimens, selected as extremes, measured 1.75 by 1.30 and 1.90 by 1.35, 

 respectively ; the set to which they belonged, now in the Smithsonian, 

 was taken at Fort Crook, California, by j\lr. J. Feilner. I do not think 

 that the bird breeds in Arizona; at least, I have not been able to deter- 

 mine satisi'actorily that it does so, as it always appeared to me to come 

 in the fall, iu September and October, with other species of wild-fowl, 

 and to leave in the spring with theuj. But its movements are not yet 

 clearly defined, especially' since we have to take into consideration those 



