Ducks SWIMMING BIRDS. 



eleven eggs it contained. They were uncovered, though embedded in 

 down, and several were already pipped. The old bird soon came 

 back to the marsh and suddenly appeared in the clear water from 

 behind some bushes and tried to entice me away. After cutting 

 away some of the branches concealing the nest, I started back along 

 the causeway so as to bring my camera from the lighthouse. I had 

 gone but a hundred yards or so when another Black Duck appeared 

 swimming in a clear patch of water far out in the centre of the 

 marsh. It vanished behind a grassy ridge and then took wing. 

 Although I had no boots I waded out and examined a tuft of bushes 

 and grass far back in the direction from which the Duck was swim- 

 ming. This bird had undoubtedly been startled by the outcries of 

 the first, and had quietly left her nest, only showing herself when at a 

 distance. In this nest, fairly covered with down, were four young 

 already hatched and not dry as yet, and six eggs rapidly hatching in the 

 hot sun. "When I returned to this nest with the camera an hour later, 

 every egg had hatched and nothing but the empty shells remained. I 

 could find nowhere the slightest trace of the birds, young or old." 



Green-winged Teal: Anas carolinensis, 



Plate 72. 



Length : 14 inches. 



Male and Female : Slightly crested. Head and neck rich chestnut, 

 with a band of green on either side behind the eyes. Above 

 waved bars of black and white. Wings dull gray. Speculum 

 half purplish black and half a rich green, other wing feathers 

 having chestnut, white, and purplish markings. Below whitish, 

 turning to pale brown on the breast, clouded with distinct black 

 spots ; throat and sides waved black and white, like the back. 

 Bill black ; feet grayish. Female with less green on the wings 

 and no crest ; mottled brownish above. 



Season: Common fall migrant about the Housatonic at Stratford; 

 September and October. 



Breeds : Chiefly north of the United States. 



Mange : North America ; migrates south to Honduras and Cuba. 



The Teal Ducks are two very small species, with beautiful 

 plumage and sweet, delicate flesh, which latter quality is 

 accounted for by the fact that their food is mainly vegeta- 

 ble, — the seeds of numerous grasses, sedges, and other 

 aquatics, small fruits and berries. They also eat grasshop- 

 pers and many other insects, and tadpoles as well. They 

 are preferably fresh-water Ducks. 



258 



