LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 105 



placed that it was only when I had almost trodden upon it, and the old bird had 

 ehufBed out at my feet and made good lier retreat bi^hind some thick bushes, that 

 I discovered it. Returning a couple of hours later, I found she had again taken 

 possession of her treasures, nor did she leave till I had approached ^^ ithin 3 feet of 

 her. 



The down in the nest is exactly Hke that of tlie European teal, 

 which is fully described under that species. 



Eggs. — The green-winged teal lays from 6 to 18 eggs, the average 

 number being from 10 to 12. The eggs arc absolutely indistinguish- 

 able from those of the blue-winged teal; in shape they are ovate or 

 elliptical ovate; in color they are dull white, cream color, or very 

 pale olive buff. The measurements of 93 eggs in various collections 

 average 45.S by 34.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 49 by 36, 48 by 37, 42 by 31.5 and 43 by 31 millimeters. 



Young. — Incubation, which lasts 21 to 23 days, is performed by 

 the female alone, as the male deserts her as soon as the eggs are laid. 

 The entire care of the young also devolves on the mother teal, who 

 performs her duty with exemplar}?' devotion. The young all hatch 

 within a few hours of each other and after a short rest the down 

 becomes dry and they gain sufficient strength to make the perilous 

 overland journey, which is often a long one, to the nearest water. Mr. 

 Ernest Thompson Seton (1901) has drawn a very vivid picture of this 

 momentous event in which he has portrayed some of the many dangers 

 to which the little ducklings are exposed. Like other young ducks, 

 they need no food for the first few hours but their mother soon teaches 

 them to feed on the insects and other soft animal, as well as vege- 

 table, food which they can pick up around the edges of the ponds 

 and among the aquatic vegetation. They also learn to heed lier 

 warning cry when danger threatens, when to hide and liow to escape 

 their many enemies, but often they vv^ould not escape except for her 

 bravery and zeal in their defense, even at the risk of her own life. 



Plmnages. — The downy young greenwing differs from the bluewing 

 in having a smaller and shorter bill, with a hooked nail, and in its 

 generally darker coloration. The upper parts are " mummy brown " 

 or " Front's brown," darkest on the crown and rump; the under parts 

 shade from " buckthorn brown " or " clay color," on the sides of the 

 head and throat, to ''cinnamon buff" or "light buff," on the breast 

 and belly; the side of the head is distinctly marked by a broad loral 

 and postocular stripe of dark brown and a similar auricular stripe 

 below it, from the eye to the occiput; a broad supercihary stripe of 

 buff extends from the bill to the occiput, but it is interrupted by an 

 extension of the dark crown nearly or quite down to the eye; the color 

 of the back is relieved by huffy spots on the thighs, scapulars, and 

 wings. I have never had any experience with hatching and raising 

 this species, but presume that its plumage grows about as it does in 



