124 BULLETIlSr 126, UNITED STATES NATIOI^AL MUSEUM. 



Mr. Harry H. Sheldon (1907) refers to three nests which he " found 

 in a grain field " near Eagle Lake, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

 Mr. Fred A. Schneider (1893) describes a nest which he found in a 

 marsh near College Park, California, as " very neatly constructed an 

 inch or two above the water and firmly fastened to the round marsh 

 grass, which grew about 30 inches high and almost concealed the 

 nest from view." It "was made entirely of marsh grass and lined 

 profusely with gray down, especially around the edges. By cutting 

 off the grass which supported the nest it could easily have been re- 

 moved without danger of its falling apart." 



Mr. Robert B. Rockwell (1911) found a number of cinnamon teal 

 breeding in the Barr Lake region of Colorado, but positively identi- 

 fied only four nests as belonging to this species, in which he was — 



unable to detect any radical departures from the habits already attributed to the 

 bluewings except that two of the four nests were in very wet locations, where the 

 eggs were in constant danger of becoming damp. These two nesta were practically 

 devoid of the downy lining while the other two nests, which were built in perfectly 

 dry locations were warmly lined with down. One of the nests was on a dry prairie 

 fully 100 feet back from the shore of the lake amid a fairly thick growth of weeds 

 and grass. 



The down in the nest of the cinnamon teal is much like that of 

 the blue-winged teal, but lighter than that of the green-winged teal. 

 It is "hair brown" to "drab" in color, with large conspicuous v»'hite 

 centers. Two types of breast feathers are found in the nests, dusky 

 with buff edges and tips, or dusky with whitish central markings. 



Eggs. — The cinnamon teal lays from 6 to 14 eggs, the usual set 

 being from 10 to 12. In shape they are ovate, elliptical ovate, 

 elliptical oval or almost oval. The shell is smooth and only slightly 

 glossy. The color varies from "pale pinkish buff" or "cartridge 

 buff" to almost pure white. 



The measurements of 90 eggs in various collections average 47.5 

 by 34.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 53 

 by 35, 48 by 37 and 44 by 30 millimeters. 



Young. — Although the male does not wholly desert the female 

 during the nesting season, the duties of incubation seem to be wholly 

 performed by her. The period of incubation does not seem to have 

 been accurately determined, but it is probably not very different from 

 that of closely related species. Mr. John G. Tyler writes me: 



I have observed that the male of this species departs from the usual rule among 

 the ducks and very often assists the female in caring for her brood of young. It is 

 rather unusual to find young cinnamon teal that are not accompanied by both par- 

 ents and the solicitude of the male bird increases with the age of the ducklings; in 

 fact, the male is often far more demonstrative than his mate. In one instance I 

 observed tliree males and a single female accompanied by 10 downy young, the males 

 showing unmistalcable evidence of their great distress at the near presence of a man 

 while the female swam about near her family in a most unconcerned manner. 



