132 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



the 1 2th that contained thirty-five BUie-winged Teal and one Green-winged 

 Teal. On the same day a flock of twenty-five flew into the marshes at Ipswich, 

 near my house, and Dr. Phillips saw a flock of about fifty at Wenham Lake. 

 The autumn flight is generally at its height in September. 



Teal are very rapid flyers, and mass together when in flocks both in the 

 air and on the water. They are very silent birds, and generally drop quietly 

 into the water among decoys, and begin to feed at once. I have, however, 

 heard them croak harshly. They are not shy, and when members of the flock 

 are shot, the remainder which have sprung vigorously into the air and made off, 

 are almost sure to return if the dead birds are left where they have fallen on 

 the water. 



The adult male in full plumage with the white crescent in front of the eye 

 is rarely seen except in the spring. In the chief fall flight, all the birds appear 

 in inconspicuous light gray plumage, even the beautiful pale blue of the lesser 

 wing coverts being often entirely concealed as they swim. The white fining of 

 the wings with black upper edge shows when they stand up and flap their 

 wings. Their heads and bills look large in proportion to their slender necks, 

 but the small size of Teal generally distinguishes them without difficulty from 

 other Ducks. 



51 [142] Spatula clypeata (Linn.). 

 Shoveler ; " Spoonbill." 



Rare transient visitor ; September 16 to November 7. 



There is an adult male in the Essex County collection of the Peabody 

 Academy, taken in 1868, by S. Jillson. There is also a specimen in the col- 

 lection of the late Dr. Charles Palmer, of Ipswich, presumably taken in Essex 

 County. Mr. William Brewster has in his collection a young male that was 

 shot at Ipswich, October ist, 1880. Mr. T. C. Wilson tells me that he shot 

 three at Eagle Hill from 1880 to 1883. Mr. G. L. Woodbury shot one at 

 Ipswich about the same time. Mr. A. B. Clark says he has shot six at Eagle 

 Hill, the last one in September, 1902. I have seen three of these, all in female 

 or immature plumage, mounted. There is a mounted bird of this species in the 

 Brown Square Hotel, in Newburyport, taken in that neighborhood. Dr. J. 

 C. Phillips shot one at Wenham Lake on October 8th, 1901, and another on 

 November 6th, 1903. Two were shot on Chebacco Lake on October 13th, 

 1902, and one on November 7th, 1899. I have in my collection a young male 

 shot by Mr. Mosely, at Rowley, on September i6th, 1904. 



