LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 127 



that the female seldom, if ever, dives for any purpose whatever. The males, how- 

 ever, occasionally, but not often, plunge below the surface of the water during the 

 mating season; this feat usually being accomplished in the presence of a rival. 



Mr. Douglas C. Mabbott (1920) says: 



Like the greenwing and the bluewing, the cinnamon teal lives mainly upon 

 vegetable food, this comprising about four-fifths (79.86 percent) of the total contents 

 of the stomachs examined. And, like the other teals, its two principal and most 

 constant items of food are the seeds and other parts of sedges (Cyperaceae) and 

 pondweeds (Naiadaceae). These two families of plants furnished 34.27 and 27.12 

 per cent, respectively, of the bird's entire diet. The grasses (Gramineae) amounted 

 to 7.75 per cent; smartweeds (Polygonaceae), to 3.22; mallows (Malvaceae), 1.87; 

 goosefooL family (Chenopodiaceae), 0.75; water milfoils (Haloragidaceae), 0.37; and 

 miscellaneous, 4.51. 



The 41 cinnamon teals examined had made of animal matter 20.14 per cent of 

 their food. This consisted of insects, 10.19 per cent; mollusks, 8.69 per cent; and 

 a few small miscellaneous items, 1.26 per cent. 



Behavior. — Mr. Tyler writes me: 



Cinnamon teal are seldom found associated in large flocks but are most often 

 encountered in pairs before the breeding season and in small family groups during 

 the fall. So far as my observations go, the male is quite silent at all times and the 

 only note that I have ever heard the female give is a very matter-of-fact "quack " 

 which serves as an alarm note and is heard just as the bird takes wing. 



Doctor Wetmore (1920) says: 



The only note that I have ever heard from the male cinnamon teal is a low 

 rattling, chattering note that can be heard only for a short distance. 



I have bad only limited opportunities of observing this beautiful 

 species in life, but, judging from what I have seen and from what I 

 have read about it, I should say that it differs very little in behavior 

 from the blue-winged teal, to which it is closely related. In the shal- 

 low tule-bordered lakes and marshes of the far West, where this 

 handsome httle duck makes its summer home, it finds abundant 

 shelter in the thick growth of tules and other luxuriant vegetation, 

 in which to escape from its many enemies, prowling beasts and birds 

 of prey. It is a prolific and persistent breeder and seems to maintain 

 its abundance in spite of the frequent raids upon its eggs and young 

 by predatory animals. Mr. Dawson's notes contain many references 

 to raided nests, of which the following is a fair sample : 



As I was returning at 2 p. m. from examination of a gad wall's nest I came upon 

 two broken eggshells of a cinnamon teal. A little search revealed the nest about 6 

 feet from the nearest egg, and a glance showed the tragedy which had been enacted 

 last night. The grass tussock gaped open and the dark down was scattered. A 

 befouled and broken egg bore sad testimony to the mortal fright of the mother, 

 although none of the remaining six were broken. A runt egg lay a foot or so from the 

 nest, and I think the mother bird must liave dropped it there long before the fatal 

 night. A bit of blood on the down showed that it was the bird rather than tlie cgga 

 the miscreant was after, and I found her lying dead upon her back only 6 feet away. 

 There was a sharp deep wound over the heart— no other mark of violence — and dissec- 



