114 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



metallic green, appearing violet at certain angles, bordered in front by a 

 vertical bar of buffy brown and above and below by horizontal black bars; a 

 conspicuous transverse bar of white on each side of body near bend of wing; 

 breast pinkish brown, distinctly spotted with black; middle under tail coverts 

 and patches at sides of vent, black; lateral under tail coverts creamy white; 

 under surface of tail ashy; rest of under surface dull white often more or less 

 obscured by rusty; legs and feet olive gray, darker at joints; webs brownish 

 black. Total length 14.75-15.75 inches (375-400 mm.) (six specimens); folded 

 wing 6.90-7.50 (175-190); bill along culmen 1.40-1.48 (35.6-37.6); tarsus 1.11- 



1.26 (28.2-32.0) (ten specimens); weight, 12.5 oz. (355.5 gm.) (one specimen). 

 Adult female: Top of head and upper surface dark brown, the feathers edged 

 with pale ashy brown giving a barred or mottled appearance; top of head 

 more nearly uniform brown, the narrow light feather edgings giving an effect 

 of fine streaking; sides of head buffy white closely flecked with dusky; stripe 

 through eye dusky; chin, throat and lower eyelid dull white, more or less 

 speckled with dusky; iris yellow; outer surface of closed wing nearly as 

 in male but slate brown feathers edged with ashy; sides, breast, and flanks 

 similar to back, but of lighter general tone; rest of under surface as in male 

 except that the indistinct spotting of the breast sometimes extends onto belly; 

 under tail coverts like sides and back but still lighter. Total length 14.50- 

 15.25 inches (368-387 mm.) (three specimens); folded wing 6.62-7.00 (168- 

 178); bill along culmen 1.35-1.49 (34.3-37.8); tarsus 1.07-1.18 (27.2-30.0) (ten 

 specimens); all from California. Juvenile plumage: Similar to that of adult 

 female, but lower surface lighter, and spotting on belly very faint or absent. 

 Natal plumage: Top of head and hind neck, line from bill through eye, and 

 spot on ear, dark brown; sides of head dull yellow; back brown, with four 

 spots of straw yellow, one on each side at base of tail and one on each side 

 near wing. 



Marks fob field identification — Very small size (for a duck); male, 

 chestnut brown head with green patch back of eye, white bar across side of 

 breast and bright green speculum bordered above and below by black. Dis- 

 tinguished from the rare European Teal by presence of white bar across side 

 of breast, and from Cinnamon and Blue-winged teals by absence of blue on 

 wing. Flanks of female and young Green-wing more heavily marked than in 

 Blue-winged Teal. 



Voice — Of male: a short mellow whistle; of female: a high pitched and oft 

 repeated "quack" of slight volume (Eaton, 1910, p. 193; Bowles, in Dawson, 



1909, p. 774). 



Nest — On the ground near water; constructed of grass and feathers placed 

 in a thick growth of grass. 



Eggs — 5 to 12, bluntly ovate in shape, measuring in inches 1.60 to 1.83 by 

 1.22 to 1.34 (in millimeters, 40.7 to 46.5 by 31.0 to 34.0), and averaging 1.72 by 



1.27 (43.7 to 32.2) (fourteen eggs from Arctic America and one set, seven 

 eggs, from California, all in U. S. National Museum) ; pale olive or greenish 

 buff in color. 



General distribution — North America. Breeds from northwestern Alaska, 

 central Keewatin, and Newfoundland south to California, northern Nebraska 

 and New Brunswick; winters from the Aleutian Islands, British Columbia, 

 Nevada, northern Indiana and western New York south to southern Lower 

 California, Honduras and the West Indies (modified from A. O. U. Check-list, 



1910, pp. 70-71). 



