34 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



buff ; the face is speckled with brown. The wing-coverts are 

 g-reyish, and the absence of a distinct speculum distinguishes 

 her from the duck Teal. The brown drake in eclipse retains 

 the blue shoulders and speculum ; young birds are at first like 

 the duck. The down of the ducklings is rich brown and buff, 

 shading to dirty white. A dark stripe passes through the eye, 

 and another across the cheek. Length, 15-16 ins. Wing, 7*8 

 ins. Tarsus, 1*3 ins. 



Blue-winged Teal. Qitcrq^iedula discors (Linn.). 



This American Teal breeds in Canada and the northern 

 States, and winters so far south as Colombia and Peru. Four 

 examples have been obtained in the British Isles, and the bird 

 has once occurred in Denmark ; all are considered to have 

 been genuine wild birds. In the spring of 1838 a female was 

 killed in Dumfries, and about the same date one was shot on 

 the Cheshire Dee; in September, 1910, a third female, a 

 young bird, was obtained near Cork, and in the spring of 19 19 

 Mr. L. R. A. Gatehouse shot a male on a fresh-water pool in 

 Anglesey, and kindly permitted me to examine the skin. 



The distinctive mark of the drake is a prominent white 

 crescentic patch in front of the eye on its black and slate-grey 

 head, and in both sexes the China blue shoulder, differing from 

 the blue-grey of the Garganey. The clove-brown back of the 

 Anglesey drake had U-shaped buff marks, and the sepia rump 

 was bordered with white. The under parts were huffish white, 

 warmest on the breast, which was crossed by a cinnamon 

 black-barred band ; the flanks were spotted. The buff and 

 black streaked scapulars were glossed with green, and the 

 metallic green speculum bordered with white; in various lights 

 the speculum showed black, metallic bronze, or brilliant green. 

 The bill was black and glossy, the legs reddish, inclining to 

 yellow on the feet. The irides are described as brown. The 

 female is a brown and umber bird, pale on the speckled head 



